Shades: The Gray Chapter
by The Arrogant Ambassador
Summary: Ichigo walks, but not as a man. He walks as a visage of what he used to be. And he's going to decide his fate. Hell for those who stand in his way... Sequel to Shades: The White Chapter
1. It's About That Time

Disclaimer: Nothing is owned, but the OCs. And, really, I don't even own the copyright for them, because those cost money. Life is such...

Chapter 1 – It's About That Time

Mornings were the absolute worst. It was the mark of a new day. A new period of self-reflection and self-loathing. A new dawn of waiting.

He didn't bother with an alarm anymore. He rarely got a full night's sleep anyway.

If he needed sleep, it would be a problem. But since he didn't, it was merely just an annoyance.

Kurosaki Ichigo stared at the digital clock that rested on a bed stand. It read, "04:34." The former substitute Shinigami sat up, eyes narrowed, and wordlessly rolled out of his bed. Walking to his bathroom, which was connected to his roomy, yet still unimpressive bedroom, he grabbed his toothbrush and toothpaste and sighed. This was going to be yet another long day.

It had been six months since he had passed. In those lonely six months, he learned what his path was to be.

To become a lord. Which one he followed did not matter.

To him, Death would be the best. So he would work toward that. To achieve this in a timely manner, he had to throw himself at his job and focus on nothing else. Luckily, he had no distractions to get in his path. For now, at least.

His trip to the bathroom ended at 04:46. Still hours before he had to leave. This was the worst moment of his days. The time when he has nothing to do.

What he needed to do was simple. But, like everything complicated plan, he needed to set it up. And like with all good plans, he needed plenty of backups.

But it's only been six months. He has plenty of time.

* * *

04:53

He was going to melt. He needed to find something to waste his time. Sulking isn't exactly the most productive way to spend his early morning. Since he lacked a physical human form, without the use of a gigai, he didn't require food, even though he still enjoyed the taste. He didn't need to sleep either, but if he didn't do that, he probably would have lost his mind months ago. Or at least what he hadn't lost already.

"Let's not go down this again..." Ichigo said to himself, darkly. He had to remind himself constantly to not get bogged down by the negatives in his life. He had to remember his purpose and what needed to be done next.

"Let's move into the future..." he said, leaning back against a wall.

* * *

05:31

The thoughts he desperately tried to avoid were creeping back. He had no escape from his mind. He needed a distraction.

Going to work early would do, for a short period of time, but it was never enough. He needed more.

Grabbing his car keys, the very stressed redhead started to make his path out of his humble apartment and into his mundane "existence" that he called life.

* * *

06:08

"Oh, Private Maddox, you're early," Ichigo said, approaching a young woman, sitting at a desk in a dimly lit office with light blonde hair, and the slightest peaking of dark brown horns poking from underneath. The subordinate flinched.

"O-oh, Ensign Kurosaki!" she squeaked, "Good morning! I came to finish some work I left last night."

"How diligent of you. I won't bother you too much," he said, "Keep up the good work..." He left the small office and started to walk to his own office, a much larger one. It was sparsely decorated, as Ichigo didn't see the need to dress the room up. Nothing he did to the room made it look less like a prison.

Sitting at his desk, he turned on his computer and logged in. He opened his email and scanned it quickly, looking for anything important.

"Just meetings..." he groaned.

Luckily, in his line of work, nothing exciting happened. He went to work, then he went home. Because of that, he was allowed to plot as needed. Unfortunately, there was nothing he was able to do at the moment. He needed to promote and establish more connections.

"Step by step, Kurosaki..." he said to himself.

* * *

07:47

"FOUO:/Briefing 1335"

The email popped up and Ichigo almost wanted to find someway to kill himself. He hated briefings, because he knew what they came with. Especially since he had other work to deal with.

Briefings came with paperwork. A lot of it. And with paperwork came a lot of questions from every corner. As a newer officer all he really had to be focused on was the paperwork and keeping his head down from any hawks looking for easy prey, but he knew that there would always be extra targets on his back due to his background.

"Let's prepare for this shit."

* * *

08:02

"Ensign Kurosaki," a relatively dark-skinned man, with the same gold bar that Ichigo wore on his collar, with a buzzcut, said, standing in the door frame.

"Ensign Tawfeek," Ichigo said, with no inflection in his voice, "What can I do for you?"

"You hear who's coming down to town?" Tawfeek said, with a wide smirk on his face, "Lord Touken's little pet."

"Captain Kato? You sure?"

"Positive. Us at Protocol are already busting our asses to get ready for her. Makes me sick."

"Great. More eyes."

"Ever since you got here it's been nothing but eyes on us. I'm starting to think you are bringing us bad luck." Tawfeek sat in a chair facing Ichigo's desk and sighed.

"I wonder what the big deal is this time. I hope we don't have to get involved too much this time."

"We will," Ichigo said, frustration brimming in his voice, "It's always like this. They need some goons to do their dirty work and we're the ones they love to get. Mainly because if we complained about it, there would be no one going to listen to us."

"Ensign Kurosaki, what did I tell you about being bitter?" Tawfeek said, grinning, "Let's just handle this the quietest we can. If we make no noise, we get no trouble, right?"

"I'm not sure that's how this all works..."

"Eh, semantics."

* * *

10:12

Ichigo had done nothing for the past two hours. This was his life now. He wanted. He received instructions. He did his job. Then he waited for some more.

Of course, he had a good reason to wait. He still hated it. But it wasn't like he was going anywhere anytime.

He did miss his friends, however. He felt that being isolated would make his resolve stronger, but all he felt was bitter coldness and the agony of being alone. And it was driving him mad.

Pretending to like any of his coworkers led nowhere. They all were self-absorbed snakes. If they saw the slightest opportunity to advance their careers, they would strike at it with absolutely no regard for whoever was in their way. It was pitiful.

Of course, this was by design. The militia had no use for ethics. Militaries use ethics. Somewhat, thinking about it further. Militia, by design, was meant to be the most efficient paramilitary force at the lowest possible cost. Optics would be bad, but no one cared if the job was done.

Ichigo groaned, feeling that he has lost his focus. There wasn't much to do at the current moment. There was going to be a meeting where their group was going to be told to kill someone, probably related to the Gnev Bolezn experiments, and the story they were going to push on why they were there. It was always the same. It had really become a boring routine.

"Should I have done things differently?" Ichigo said aloud, to no one. He had no more real voices in his head. No more Zanpakutō spirit. No more false one. Of course, he swore he still heard Ulquiorra, but that should be impossible...Should be? He did technically absorb him before he faded away, but that should matter. Ichigo doesn't have a soul anymore.

Why was he even having this eternal crisis anymore? None of this crap mattered to him anymore. He had a job to do. And that job was going to take a long time to do. He knew there was going to be a lot of boring clean up to do. And he knew that he had to be the one that did it. There was no reason to be mulling over this at the current moment. He simply had to stay true to the path laid out in front of him.

This...That was fun.

Not having to worry about some conspiracy. Not having to deal with the Shinigami and their problems. No having to deal with the Wandenreich, wherever they happen to be. Just hunting down some monsters and the bastards who created them. Easy enough. It was oddly relaxing that your job was done when the enemy was defeated and not having to deal with any nonsense afterward. Of course, when that day gets closer, things wouldn't be so easy, but he'll worry about that stuff when it gets here.

* * *

12:46

Ichigo liked to be early to meetings and briefings. He liked to decompress beforehand. Preferably alone. This time, he was not allowed that opportunity, as Tawfeek was there before him, alongside a couple of enlisted leadership.

"You think this might be a dud?" Tawfeek asked, smirking, "We got stripes here."

"You pay attention to the other briefings, idiot?" Ichigo asked, "Enlisted is always here. You think we're going to do boot work?"

"You might."

"Might not. I go out with the Enlisted because it's a decent learning experience for them. I'm not out there to work."

"Hmmm."

That was a lie.

Ichigo, in his short time in the militia, had become an excellent liar. Had to be. No one could know that he had died. Or...Died in name only.

Ichigo did not die properly. His soul was lost. His soul faded away. His body remained.

Ichigo was not a man. Ichigo was willpower walking. His body wasn't completely useless, but it was completely unusable as a host. But, there was something he could take from it.

"So, what do think it is this time?" Tawfeek asked, smirking, "Demons are left for the demon hunters. Some bullshit relief mission?"

"Ensign Tawfeek, I'm going to need you to stay back on this one," Ichigo said, narrowing his eyes. Tawfeek chuckled.

"Say less. I hate these sudden deployments."

"I need the field experience anyway."

* * *

15:43

Somalia, Africa. Next day out. Flight time 0600. Of course, it's something that Ichigo had to take care of. He was the only officer in contact with the Horsemen. Well hopefully. He would rather not have to put a body in the ground.

Ichigo hated the fact that he was nothing more than a glorified assassin. Ichigo never liked killing people. Monsters were easy. Hollow's were even easier. But humans were...complicated.

Now, Ichigo never had a problem killing. But he really didn't like that. And now he had to. For multiple reasons.

Nothing to do now. Ichigo grabbed a stack of papers on his desk and dumped them into a satchel. Most of them were food for his shredder, but there had to be something that he could have used. It wasn't like Ichigo was on who like to throw things away.

Walking out of his office for only the second time that day, Ichigo locked up and turned on a heel, walking into Private Maddox, the meek demon secretary.

"Oh, you're still here?" Ichigo said. Maddox nodded.

"I can't just leave earlier b-because I showed up earlier," she said, shifting her eyes downward. Ichigo shrugged.

"Heh, more dedicated than me. Remember to always take care of yourself first, Private."

"W-well, I don't want to be a burden. Being a demon...It's nothing. I just want to be as useful as possible."

"Don't feel like you are useless, Private. You're as worthwhile as anyone else in this building. Commit that to memory."

* * *

17:02

Extermination. A Somali village was overrun by Gnev Bolezn's virus. The Enlisted members were being sent to support local village, but Ichigo alone was sent to kill everything in that village.

He really didn't like that.

Demon extermination was easy, but killing humans turned was just...Unpleasant. It was just yet another dirty part of a dirty job...

But, it was necessary dirt. If Gnev's virus broke throughout the world, the living world would be completely destroyed. And as unnecessary was the living world was to Ichigo's plan, there were people that he would prefer to not to die. A lot of people...

Ichigo wanted to go to Karakura...He wanted to see all of his friends...his family...But he couldn't. His "death" was key for his story to develop the way that he wanted. If he had gone back, the progress that he had made would be for naught. He needed to give himself the best opportunity to succeed and for his friends not to be distractions on his path.

He hated that he considered them distractions. They were...are his friends. Despite the living world forgetting about him and the Shinigami purging any knowledge of him due to pressure coming from the Lords of Death, he knew that those close to him would keep him in his heart forever. Even if he wasn't worth it...

He hoped that the grieving period was short and that they could move on with their lives, but he knew that he was lying...Why would he plan to go back to Karakura once his plan was in motion if he wanted them to move on?

Oh. He had almost forgotten.

Orihime had taken her first step into becoming the Soul King. Her soul was transitioning in, as the soul of the current one was transitioning out. There will be a brief period where Orihime will not have ascended yet and this is year Kurosaki Hayato, a Quincy that happened to be Ichigo's uncle and a major pain in his ass, would strike. He would enter Himmelskimmer, the birthplace of the Quincy, and force open the gates, using Irminsul, a white brand created as a secondary key to Himmelskimmer. This is what he knew. His studies led him to this conclusion.

What his studies didn't answer was why he needed a second Quincy. A pureblood, not unlike his former self, to be exact. Ishida, no matter how hard he tried, would never be adequate. But why did he need one? What could he possibly a second Quincy for? And who else could he use?

"I wonder..." Ichigo murmured, thinking about the woman that attacked him back when Yhwach revived himself. She was a Quincy...Maybe? He never got a good read on her Reiatsu. He had no way of confirming if she was a Quincy or some kind of imposter. Regardless, she was with Sora and Izanami, two dwellers of the Abyss. She wore a mask, not unlike those two. She could be stationed in the Abyss.

Regardless, his plan was to never allow Hayato to reach his plan anyway. Just get far enough so Ichigo could use his plans against him.

And technically, Ichigo's plans were the same as Hayato's, just done with a different method. One hopefully with far less unnecessary bloodshed. His uncle was reckless and fought as if he had nothing to lose. He would kill as many as it took to accomplish his goals. Nothing was off-limits.

No reason to rush, however. The scene was not set yet. Either party was ready to act. All Ichigo needed to do was wait until someone made a move to react.

21:06

Ichigo had no pictures or videos about his past life in Karakura. Some nights this made it very easy to forget that he had lived there and the trauma that has come and is coming their way. Tonight, on the other hand, he missed them dearly. He missed how Keigo and Asano would bicker, with Keigo getting beaten and subsequently leaching onto Ichigo for the support that he was not going to get. He missed how he and Chad didn't have to say a single word to each other to bond. He missed Tatsuki trying to act like his big sister, despite being two days younger. He missed his goofy family. He missed helping Yuzu with her homework. He missed playing soccer with Karin. He missed...well he missed something about his father. He missed Ishida and how he was to trigger into some rant or something. He missed Orihime and the level of peace that she brought him.

He didn't miss the Shinigami, but he did miss Rukia. She was the one who opened him to this world and she was the one that helped him along the way. She was there whenever he needed someone to make sense of the craziness he had entered. She gave him all that she could to help him grow. He really owed it to tell Rukia the truth one day, but...it probably would be any time soon.

Turning off the light in his room, Ichigo rolled into his bed, ready to sleep off a bitter day. One day, he'll make this right. But first, he needs to handle his part.

Next day, 8:22

"Ensign Kurosaki," a man, with light brown fatigues on said, smiling brightly, "I know you know that the men are always excited with officers to come out to help during our deployments. It makes our work feel a bit more legitimate, y'know?"

"Yeah," Ichigo said, brandishing a short white sword on his hip, "I can see that. Your men should know that our work is completely legitimate, even if it is done behind a shroud of secrecy." The man laughed heartily.

"I know, I know," he said, "But you know how this works. We're an illegitimate militia of hell. We're made up of demons and some of the most irredeemable villains of the living world. No one recognizes the work that we do and most officers use our blood to fuel their progression in their careers. So it feels good that you are out here with us, even if your mission is different from ours."

"Yeah. I'm glad you feel that way."

9:31

The air is thick with the stench of blood.

Ichigo steps out of the small, one-manned four-wheeler that he rode to his mission location. He put on a pair of black sunglasses and walked through the ruined gates. Mangled bodies littered the dirt road. The houses that the locals called their humble homes were in complete shambles. Gnev Bolezn's virus must have already mutated someone, and they have been making short work of the unprepared villagers. Sickening.

Bolezn was efficient with how he spread his demon virus throughout the world and the Lords were confused about how to capture him. Mainly due to capturing him would not fix their current dilemma. He had sold his virus to various terrorist groups throughout the land, knowing it'll eventually affect them too. He was a madman, aiming to kill as many as he could before he was eventually captured. And he was doing a stellar job in staying out of the open and being as hidden as possible.

"Pathetic," Ichigo said, narrowing his eyes. Ichigo didn't see himself as a paragon of justice, but such pointless bloodshed still irritated him to the ends of the earth. Knowing Gnev was once a lab partner with his mother also irked him. Of course, this disgusting bastard knew his mother.

Not matter. Eventually, he will be found. And eventually, Ichigo will find great pleasure in giving him an unmarked grave.

A blood-curdling scream erupted throughout the village, catching Ichigo's attention. The redhead pointed his head towards the largest building in the small village, the only hut with more than one story to its name.

"The beast probably ran to avoid the sun," Ichigo said, "Gnev never quite worked out that flaw." Grabbing the ivory white handle of his blade, Ichigo slowing walked toward the building, ready for anything.

* * *

"It's About That Time" by Miles Davis

I am back. Not gonna have an excuse, just know that I'm finally dragging myself out of a bad place and rediscovered my passion for writing. I'll finish this, no matter what.

C'est la vie.


	2. Fallin' Ditch

Chapter 2 – Fallin' Ditch

Rukia rarely woke to an easy day. Whether it be from work or her personal time.

Everything was just so hectic. In the world of the living, there had been an increase in Hollow attacks. And they weren't the weak ones that the deployed unseated Shinigami could handle, but there were several sightings of Gilians. There was even an Adjuchas that claimed the life of two Shinigami, both from the eleventh division.

There was no known explanation behind it. Captain Ukitake had claimed that maybe the power void left with the demise of Aizen contributed to the attacks, but it was becoming much more apparent that there was something sinister behind this.

They just didn't know what could be the culprit. And there was something that they were after.

Karakura was safe, like always. There was so much power in Karakura that Hollows stopped appearing there. She could rest easy, knowing that here precious friends were safe from the sudden conflict.

Ichigo, before his demise, had told her to watch Orihime closely. She never had a problem with this request; she was his lover after all and he had sacrificed a large amount of his remaining time to save her. What he wanted her to monitor was the confusing part.

"Watch for a change," she said, repeating the words he had said about the matter. Orihime hadn't changed personality wise...Well, that drastically. She was still a being of pure optimism, even if her life wasn't going the way she had wanted. And nothing was going well for her at the moment.

Rukia wondered what she had done to deserve to be as snakebitten as she was. After graduating high school, despite her stellar grades, she had no financial way to attend higher education. Rukia had thought about bringing her to the Seireitei to live with her, but the Lords of Death ominous warning still rang true in her head. Rukia could only watch from afar as her first friend that was a girl suffered in silence. She wished that she could help in a significant way, but duty had kept her away.

There was also the fact that they were being watched from every angle. Every single step that they took was monitored by different organizations. There was talk of a regime change, with Head Captain Yamamoto stepping down, but Rukia knew better. There are no retirements in the Gotei 13.

After the events with the Royal Guard and the Wandenreich, Head Captain Yamamoto rarely called meetings. He rarely left the Head Office chambers. It was as if he had become too paranoid to function. This was...unusual. The Head Captain was the projection of might in her eyes. And there he was...Nowhere to be seen...

Maybe he had seen this before. Before Head Captain Yamamoto, there was Head Captain Oshiro Daichi. And, despite how great and powerful he was, his term ended with his death...

Maybe the Head Captain had a valid reason to be paranoid. But who was going to be strong enough to kill him?

* * *

Ichigo had smelt enough blood in his life to be unaffected by the stench, but he still would prefer to do without. The village was completely torn through as if a sandstorm of glass had swept through the town. If there was one thing that demons were not, it was subtle.

Demons were no different from Hollows. Weak ones eat to evolve. Strong ones develop sentience and personality. Of course, one major difference was that demons could reproduce. For the most part, they weren't a huge problem. Demon hunters were the ones tasked to deal with them and they were pretty good at that. They had specialized tools for baiting them out and slaying them before they knew what hit them.

For demons created by Gnev Bolezn's virus, that was a no-go.

The big reason was that knowledge of Bolezn's virus was top secret to the highest degree of security. Bolezn wasn't just a terrorist enabler; he was a former Lord. And thus, when he defected, knowledge of said betrayal was squashed. He was dead to the public and a corpse in waiting in reality. All it took was for someone to finally corner him. Eventually, he'll run into a corner.

But baby steps. No need to rush things.

With a gloved hand, Ichigo pushed a large chunk of twisted wood, which he figured was once a door in a past life, open and entered the central building. The halls were completely covered in blood, body parts, and other various unmentionables. Ichigo flipped off his sunglasses and tentatively placed a hand on the grip of a sheathed blade. He crept through the haunted walls, careful not to make a single noticeable sound.

Ichigo was many things, but a hunter was not one of them. He had no idea how demons moved. How to track them. How to kill them properly. Instinct was all that he had.

Instinct was telling him that a single shinken was not an adequate weapon to be hunting a beast capable of such a messy massacre.

Moments like this were when he missed his old power. Before, all he would need to do is find the monster, overpower it, and move on with his day. But now he had no Zangetsu. He had no Gugalanna. He had no real power to his claim. Nothing but a 70cm white blade and a sharpened sheath.

Hunters used everything. Polearms, hammers, firearms, chainsaws, anything that could be mobilized as a weapon and keep the demon from touching him. Luckily, Ichigo didn't have to fear anything from being touched, but it would have been an easier story to tell if he's not.

Ichigo, for the first time in his life, feared death. Not just because he had found a purpose on why he should fight to live, but because death could so quick. Ichigo was as powerless as he's ever been. He could die to something as simple as falling down the steps and breaking his neck.

Ironic. He didn't need to eat or sleep, but he was still as mortal as any man.

* * *

Rukia really didn't like silence anymore. There was always something unnerving about it now. It was neither something happening that she wouldn't like or her thoughts creeping. Making her feel inadequate. The Seireitei was tense nearly every single second of the day. The divisions between the squadrons deepened.

Due to the intense workload and the inability to get away from the squadron, she rarely saw Renji anymore. She only saw her adopted brother at the manor and some days he wouldn't even be there.

She wondered what she could have done. Everyone was just so busy.

Maybe she could call Orihime later. It wasn't much, but it was at least another being she was connecting to.

* * *

"Of course. It's in the basement," Ichigo said, "How cliché." He pushed the door to the basement with the tip of his sheathed blade and the mangled wooden product fell, loudly. The beast roared, the scream sounding like a horrifying mixture of monsters and men. If Ichigo was a betting man, he could have put a good number on the person turning about eight hours ago.

"Unfortunate," he said, slowly stepping down the passage. He no longer heard the demon, which typically would mean that it was now a bit preoccupied. A distraction would be nice. He could end it very quickly with a strike to the back of the neck. Quick and painless. Simple and clean.

Ichigo typically had bad luck when it came to things like this, however. With a case like this, the demon shouldn't be too monstrous, being so freshly made.

Gnev Bolezn's virus took about two weeks to actually become symptomatic. After the virus starts the show, the effects start to snowball. Slurred vision. Insatiable hunger. Cool, clammy skin. It's a shame the disease wasn't more noticeable, because once the symptoms kick in, you're a lost cause. Applying the cure at that point was akin to slapping a bandage on their forehead. Progress on a vaccine was middling at best, but at least there was progress in that regard.

The biggest problem was that the virus seemingly affected the victims randomly. Whether it turning them into a horrible monster or just outright boiling their insides. There was no rhyme or reason why the virus worked like that. The hypothesis on why was pretty much a shot in the dark.

Ichigo's own theory was that Gnev changed the virus whenever he got the chance. However, a major hole in that theory was that Gnev never had any time to actually modify his virus, with the constant fleeing capture thing, and it's highly unlikely that Gnev himself knew what his virus actually did to people. He created the virus as a diversion, not as a testament to his genius. He might have a general idea, but not the whole picture.

Nevertheless, Ichigo stepped off the final step and laid eyes on his prey. As he predicted, he was mostly man. His skin was grayed and scarred, as if he was he was clawing at his skin, desperate to peel it away. His face was contorted into a freakish permanent grin, his teeth stained with blood. His shirt was ripped liberally, more ribbons than fabric.

And he was looking right at Ichigo.

He did say he was used to bad luck...

The demon immediately lunged at Ichigo, who blocked the strike with his sheathed blade, his off-hand supporting. With a sharp push, the demon stumbled back and Ichigo formed a defensive stance, right hand on the grip of the blade, left on the sheath. The demon slapped at his wounded chest and roared.

Ichigo heard nothing.

Iaijutsu is the art of the quick draw. Ichigo had learned it for two major reasons. The first was that it was efficient. One precise strike was all that you needed. As one legendary practitioner had stated, "The most beautiful battle is one that ends in one strike."

With Iaijutsu, strength didn't matter. Precision and decisiveness were the only things that mattered. As long as knew visualized where his blade was going to drive through, he could do anything. He could cut anything.

Demons, unlike Shinigami, did not have stat gates on attacking them. If you saw a demon and you had a weapon, you could kill a demon.

This was the biggest reason why Zanpakutō were not good weapons against demons. Zanpakutō were intended to kill, or _purify_, spirits. Cutting a demon with a Zanpakutō is the equivalent to cutting a normal human with one; it didn't do anything. Killing a demon didn't require specialized tools or anything. It just required bravery and knowledge.

The demon roared once more, before charging Ichigo, body low to the ground. Ichigo exhaled, re-tightening his grip on his blade.

Oh the second reason, you ask?

With a quick dash, Ichigo appeared behind the demon, who took about three more steps, before stopping in his tracks. Ichigo spun his blade, whipping off any blood on the ivory blade, before returning it back into it's home. The demon released some kind of gurgling noise before the torso slowly slid off of the legs and flopped on to the ground, accompanied by a wet splash. Ichigo grinned, reaching into his pocket, and grabbing a syringe.

The second reason was that it was pretty fucking cool.

* * *

It is always an awful feeling in the pit of the gut when you have to reduce a home to ashes. But, in this line of work, that feeling was a constant reality. A village holding a secret that the world is not prepared to see cannot be allowed to remain standing. Luckily, this time, there were no survivors.

"Ensign Kurosaki, you're back!" the company commando said to him, as he stood next to the transport vehicle, a simple gray bus. Ichigo was knocked out of his reflection.

"Huh, oh," Ichigo murmured, "Oh yeah, I'm back..." The commando leaned against the bus.

"Hey, you good?" he asked, "I can tell that you're thinking about something." Ichigo sighed. He never liked when the enlisted folk actually cared. While the officers were self-serving and snakes, the enlisted militia were generally just people who just wanted to make their time in hell beneficial to someone. The Hell's Militia weren't the best of people, but they were the only defense force for the citizens of Hell, whether it be the souls in the top layer or those imprisoned in Sheol, the lowest layer of Hell.

They even had somehow helped fix a lot of the demons-humans relations by allowing demons to join. That was a massive boon, as now demons in more populated areas no longer felt like...monsters? Yeah, that works.

The hierarchy for demons was very simple. Don't give in to bloodlust? Here is your citizen's card. Welcome to Hell.

Everyone else gets hunted. Plain and simple.

Demons were mostly okay with that outcome. There was the occasional protest and everything, but for the most part, there was peace. That was nice. For the most part.

"I'm...I'm just a bit homesick," Ichigo said, tonelessly, "Unlike you and the rest of the guys, I didn't die. I'm here for reasons."

"We understand, Ensign. I actually feel bad for your situation."

"It's just tiring. It's only being six months since I got here. And I'm already homesick."

"Ensign, I hope you know that no matter how bad it may get, you have family in the militia."

"Yeah. I've heard it all before," Ichigo said. Truthfully, he had and it gets tiring to hear it again, just from another face. At this point, all he wanted to do is get home, force himself to sleep, and map out what to do from there. Not have a heart-to-heart with someone that he's pretty confident that he'll never see again. Even with the best of intentions, Ichigo could not afford to open his heart to anyone.

It sucked, but that's just the way it was. Ichigo had to be cold to those kind to him to keep his motivation up. And he had to be. For the first time in Ichigo's life, he had to be selfish. He had to do not what was the best outcome for everyone, but for himself. And at times, he felt as if he hadn't done the right thing, he had to remind himself on what he was doing this for. Ichigo had to snuff any feelings of weakness. If he didn't, doubt seeps into his heart and with doubt comes indecisiveness. And that breeds failure.

Ichigo would not fail. That was his mantra. That was the only thing that moved him, day-by-day. He could not afford to fail. He'll rest his burdened mind later.

"Gotta keep moving," Ichigo said. The commando turned his head toward him.

"Um, pardon?"

"Always need to be moving forward. If you don't, doubt will cloud your feelings. And with doubt, comes stagnation. Keep moving, even in small increments. No matter what you do." Ichigo closed his eyes.

"And never let fear control you, like it once controlled me. Understand that your purpose may be greater than what you are at this moment. And always stay true that end that you desire."

"I...I understand?"

"No sir, you do not," Ichigo said, turning to face the confused commando, "But that is completely understandable. Our burdens are different."

* * *

Another empty day. Rukia sat in her quarters, dazed. She already knew that sleep was likely not an option that night.

This was happening at a far too high frequency. All she wanted to do now was close her eyes and drift into the realm of sleep. And yet, she wasn't even allowed to do that peacefully. It was always something new with her.

So, she sat. Tilling over what was going to happen tomorrow and the day after that. And the day after that. What Renji was doing. What Nii-sama was doing. On whatever Orihime had made that day. What Ichi-

"No no no no no..." she whispered, palming her face with both of her hands. She mustn't allow guilt to creep back up. Moving past those feelings of guilt for Kaien was already tough enough, but Ichigo was nearly impossible.

Ichigo was the first person she met during her deployment to the world of the living. And their fates were intertwined the moment she gave him her power to protect himself. And yet, he wasn't here anymore. And she was.

_She _was the survivor. Again. After Kaien did so much for her, she took his life. And after Ichigo sacrificed his peaceful existence for their survival, he ends up dying barely two years after she entered his world. And yet she kept living.

Why did this keep happening to her? Why was she not strong enough to do anything about it? Kaien was a proud family man. And she took that away from him, then canonized the man himself. Her feelings of inadequacy poured over when she saw Kaien and his wife together. Was she jealous? Did she love Kaien?

When Miyako was killed by the Hollow, was there joy in her heart? Did she think that Kaien would look to her not as a subordinate and a pupil, but a woman? Did she want that? Even asking the hypothetical question to herself made her feel immensely sick. Why was she even thinking about this? Why can't these stupid feelings make sense?

Would Kaien feel the same way she did over Ichigo dying? Guilt. The overwhelming burden of the weight of failure holding her down. Did she even want him to think of her like that?

_What _did she even want? What was she even doing anymore? Why was she still pretending like she had any answers?

She was a pawn. There were larger powers at play here and she was just...Rukia. What could she even do in the grand scheme of things? Is this what Ichigo felt like, before his death?

Worthless...Useless...Alone...And now she's ruminating on feelings that she didn't think she had now. She was pathetic.

A few tears dropped onto her kimono. She hadn't even realized that she'd been crying...

* * *

Home was everything but. Ichigo felt trapped inside the walls.

The apartment that he was living in wasn't bad. It just wasn't very homely. He didn't have any pictures to put up. He had a single tv in his living room, but he couldn't remember the last time he turned it on. The apartment was impeccably clean. It was livable, just not lovable.

Didn't need to be. It was just a hub for his operations.

Sitting on his couch, Ichigo grabbed a tablet off of the coffee table in front of it and loaded up a message. It was an anonymous email, sent moments after he had finished burning the ruined village down. It was a simple message, simply stating, "Good job, Ensign Kurosaki. Turn in the vial to the laboratory tomorrow morning at 0615.

"Your hard work has been noted."

Ichigo hated the cryptic messages, but he understood why they were sent that way. The Lords preferred to be invisible were working, a complete opposite of their public personas. They controlled the streams of information to fit their agenda. The complete erasure of the Ryoka invasion was the first time he has every seen canonical fact scrubbed from history.

The Lords of Conquest controlled the information of territory. The Lords of Pestilence controlled the information of disease and science. The Lords of War controlled the information of conflict. The Lords of Famine, ironically enough, controlled the information of subsistence. And the Lords of Death controlled the information of the great beyond. No side checked the other, so it came at no surprise that there were deep seated rivalries between the Lords. Luckily, Ichigo really didn't need to worry about that aspect. All he needed was to become a Lord. No matter the cost.

But, that was long down the word. All he needed to do was take this journey, step by step.

* * *

"Fallin' Ditch" by Captain Beefheart


	3. Cloudy

Chapter 3 – Cloudy

"You're not the usual lab tech," Ichigo said, smirking knowingly. The "replacement" was a slender, pale older gentlewoman with a neat gray bob-cut. She wore a sleek gray trench coat, as if that was helping her hide her true intentions, with a satchel attached to the .

"Ensign Kurosaki, nice to finally meet you. I am Oxana Tchaikovsky, if you were not aware," she announced, strong Russian accent flourishing her english, "I was sent by my husband, Lord Fabrizio Bolezn to collect the sample." Ichigo pulled the vial out of his pocket and shook it softly.

"It's right here," he said, "Not going to lie. It's a bit odd to be handling this over to the parents of our target."

"Lord Bolezn and I have gotten over any emotions about him. He's dangerous and we understand what must be done."

"You're speaking like we're on the job," Ichigo said, "Lord Bolezn has been in this game long enough. I know he's witnessed everything one could see on the job. But what about you? It's not so easy knowing that the enemy is your son." Oxana sighed, grabbing the vial and placing it into the satchel.

"I've have been with Fabrizio for over forty years and I have worked with him for even longer than that. We are heartbroken about our son, but we are aware with what must be done. Rest easy, Ensign Kurosaki. We are fine."

"That's good, I suppose," Ichigo said.

"I feel as if you still have your doubts."

"I might have a few."

"I feel flattered that you would be concerned about us," Oxana said, "I assure you that there is nothing to worry about. Fabrizio and I are professionals in every word. We know how this works, even if it is family." Ichigo nodded.

"You two are stronger than me."

"Don't see it as a strength, Ensign."

* * *

Secrecy was the name of the game. Ichigo wondered in the past how the Lords were able to control nearly every stream of information in existence without being detected, but now that he seen it up close, he wondered how they were so effective while being so open. The Lords didn't even bother hiding their existence. They would find someone interesting and willing to play along with their scheme. If that person proves to be valuable, they get to play along. If not, they either get snuffed out or infinitely worse than that.

They didn't worry about strength or power. All they needed was the attention to detail and a willingness to do whatever it took.

Ichigo, having a hook in Mouken Yura, one of the Lords, helped his chances, but he had to prove himself competent to finish the game. Impressing another would make his life infinitely easier down the road. Especially one as respected as Fabrizio Bolezn, a former Italian general. He had been excelling in his second career, but his time was nearly done. Ichigo needed to endear himself before he hit the retirement button.

He's done a decent job so far, but Ichigo knew that he couldn't lay off the pedal. It was tiring and stressful, but there was a light at the end of the tunnel. He could rest when the job was done.

Another long day. And it was going to lead to another restless night. Such was her life.

Rukia mindlessly walked through the Seireitei, no real destination in mind. She wanted to see some semblance of reality before she eventually ended up at her increasingly empty home and failed to get some sleep. Eventually, her terrible sleep schedule will catch up with her, but now she just wanted to wander.

"Hey Kuchiki," a brash voice shouted from behind her. Rukia, in her depressive daze, did not react.

"Kuchiki!" the voice shouted louder, attracting the attention of the girl.

"Huh-Yes!" she said, snapping into attention, and turning around, to see Zaraki Kenpachi approaching her. Her face paled.

"You look lost," he said, calmly, "I haven't seen you in a while. Is everything okay?" Rukia, stunned by the thoughtfulness display by the wild captain, nodded.

"Good, good," Kenpachi said, "You're from the Rukongai, right?"

"Y-yes sir," Rukia answered, wondering where this was going. She had never had a single conversation with the large captain. In fact, the only person she ever had a relationship with that was from the eleventh division was Renji and she never knew that he was part of the squadron until he had moved to the sixth, underneath her brother.

"Walk with me."

* * *

The Rukongai was separated into three-hundred and twenty districts, designated by which cardinal direction they are in relation to the Seireitei. The further the district was from the Seireitei, the worse it was. Rukia knew that Captain Kenpachi was from the eightieth district in the north region. She was from the seventy-eighth district in the south region, along with Renji. Many Shinigami were from the Rukongai.

Why she was walking through it with Captain Kenpachi was a mystery. She really never knew the captain very well. No one really did. He fought like a maniac. He was a monster.

He wasn't a very open individual. He liked to fight. He liked to eat. He liked to sleep. She knew Vice-Captain Kusajishi Yachiru from the Shinigami Women's Association, which she was the President of, for some reason. Initially, after the Wandenreich invasion, Yachiru was down. Out of all the divisions that were hit hard, the Eleventh was the most decimated. They suffered a loss of a multitude of seated Officers, a lot of them Yachiru seen as kin.

"Ikkaku and Yumichika are buried here," Kenpachi said, stirring the silence, "They died during the invasion...I killed them after they were possessed by that Quincy in black..." Rukia looked at the Captain, with sorrowful eyes. She didn't know that the brash giant could even feel what he was feeling now.

"I'm...I don't know how to grieve. My entire life was conflict. I fought and fought and fought. I killed a lot as well. Ikkaku, Yumichika, Yachiru and I had fought our way into the Seireitei and we fought to stay here. I never imagined our journey without them.

"I killed them. They were possessed. And I had to kill them...Explaining that to my squadron hardened me. I never expected to ever have to do something like that. I never expected to have to explain to my family why I had to kill two of them.

"Yachiru was the most hurt by this. We were together throughout all of this. And she has seen them throughout the years. We were brothers. And they're gone now...

"She talks about you. She says you and the Shinigami Women's thing ya'll do helped her. Your captain talks about you all the time. Says on how you're a pillar of strength in your division. On how you recovered from grief before and how to become stronger from it. I hate asking for favors from other divisions. Hell, I hate asking for favors in the first place. But I need...I have to ask you to share some of your strength with me." Rukia looked at the graves and understood exactly what Kenpachi was feeling.

For the first time in his life likely, he felt powerless. He could win any battle, but he knew nothing on the heart. There was likely no one inside the Eleventh that could be the heart they needed. Rukia didn't know if she could perform that role as well, but it didn't hurt to try...

"I'll do my best, Captain Kenpachi," she replied, with a small smile on her face. Kenpachi nodded.

"I appreciate it."

* * *

"Hey, Ensign Kurosaki," Ensign Tawfeek said, sitting the aforementioned office, "I got a question for you."

"Fire away," Ichigo responded, not taking his eyes off of the computer monitor that he was working on.

"Why do you work so hard? You're nonstop around here."

"I think you would have a similar work effort, wouldn't you?"

"I'm not here because I was some villain in my living life. I was born on the Gaza strip, but I ended up in Harvard. I came here because I was told I can make a difference and I see what I need and can do. But right now, I'm taking my time. Because right now, I can't do much. But you're all over the place. You're constantly moving and making plays. You make time to meet and entertain all of our important guests. You deploy like crazy. You never take any time for yourself." Ichigo chuckled, removing his reading glasses.

"I just I don't have much else to do. I live for this opportunity that was granted me. Outside of this, I don't have much of a life," Ichigo said, secretly relishing that he told a rare truth, "Eventually I'll have time for myself, but right now, I can't."

"I see. Just don't burn yourself out man," Tawfeek said, "I've seen it before."

"Yeah. But I'm good right now."

"Just take care of yourself."

* * *

Ichigo didn't take many walks. He really wasn't looking out for himself, as Tawfeek mentioned. Of course, when his work was so critical, he couldn't afford to take time for himself. He didn't need much, of course, but every so of he could live a little. So what could he do tonight?

He wasn't a big party person and he rarely drunk, so those options weren't looking so hot. Movies and entertainment like that were reflection time and that was what he was trying to avoid.

What could he do? He didn't have any friends. He neglected any hobbies he had while he lived. Maybe he went about this the wrong way. Maybe he should have done something different. Treated himself better.

No time to think about it now. Ichigo chuckled, looking up into the night sky.

He really never realized how normal nights were in hell. The seasons never changed, but days felt like days and nights likewise. It rained every so often. The environment was modern. Buildings were high. In fact, out of all the afterlives he had seen, Japan's was the only one that was old-fashioned. China, which also resembled days past, has even begun to modernize.

Modernization came from both the Royal families and the respective military force. The Royal Families will find the joys of the living world and demand that quality of living. They update and the military slowly starts to revamp their processes.

Japan resisting said change seems to come from that the Royal families, spirits born into the powerful families of the afterlife, had so much influence in the Seireitei. The current Captain Commander was a former royal, along with seven other Captains or Vice Captains were royals, albeit Rukia being adopted meant she was a different story. Regardless, that's not even addressing the amount of seated officers that were royals.

And the Commander of the Royal Guard was a damn royal himself. Saito Yū, the enigmatic leader of the Royal Guard and the head of the most powerful family in the Japanese afterlife. Ichigo, during his time in Hell, had learned quite a bit about the man. He was a threat. But he also wasn't a monster. He wasn't going to fight a battle he couldn't win. His actions during the Wandenreich invasion were odd, but he seemed to move with desperation. Maybe he figured that the time was over, the Seireitei was going to fall and that they needed to act immediately.

He would need to be closely monitored, especially after Ichigo would start his plans.

But right now, he can just enjoy the night sky. He would never take such peace for granted anymore.

* * *

For the first time in a long time, Rukia felt rejuvenated. As if for one night, she could forget all of her problems, guilt, and self-loathing. She knew that she would finally sleep well, for the first time in a long time. She felt strong.

She had a purpose. She could bottle up her grief and use it to strengthen others. She had been a vision of strength for her squadron, but now she could finally realize it for herself. She could finally open up and talk to someone. She could help someone.

Step-by-step, the Seireitei would recover. The delayed destruction promised by the Wandenreich did not need to be at the forefront of their minds. They needed to believe that they could fight. They needed hope.

She wasn't much, but she was going to try her hardest. This was where she was needed. This is what she could do.

"Who says I can't do more than this?" she asked herself, practically glowing in anticipation. Why couldn't she do more than this? Why couldn't she unveil the conspiracy? Why could she be the hero that the Seireitei needed? She might have just been one Kuchiki Rukia, but she had overcome the odds before. She was a Rukongai vagrant, who went from barely passing through the Shinigami Academy, to becoming a seated officer, then a Lieutenant of the Gotei 13. Why couldn't she overcome whatever faced her?

Despite the sleep she desired for so long being within her grasp, she had to move. She had far too much to do at the moment and she wasn't going to waste a single second in starting.

* * *

"Hey, Kurosaki...How would you like some...O-J-T? Winky face, signed Lord Mouken?" Ichigo read, on his computer screen, brain threatening to shut off. Apparently, Lord Mouken Yura wanted to see him. Goody. He always enjoyed seeing her...

In the six months that he was in the militia, the Lords of Death had reached out to him. Currently, four out of the nine Lords had talked to him.

Lord Fabrizio Bolezn communicated to him the prior day, using a subordinate. Lord Shamira Tobias sent a subordinate as well and he suspected that she was the one setting him up with the constant deployments. Lord Mouken met him while he was still alive and was a frequent caller, for some strange reason. Lord Chance Stevens also had met him, after he defeated Gin, but that was their only meeting. Lord Virgil Alexanderson was the only one that had completely ignored him. He didn't find that weird at all. He was a new Ensign. The only reason why the others had talked to him was because Yura had such strong praise for him in the first place.

What she wanted now, was a complete mystery. OJT, or on the job training, meant that this had something to do with Lord business. And since the Lords of Death work on the afterlives, probably something with one of those. Ichigo didn't really care. Anything that sped up the process was big for him. And he would do pretty much anything to hurry it up.

* * *

Six months...Twenty-two days...

He was so close to his goal...There were a multitude of Quincies to choose from. He had everything that he could have wanted. And Yhwach and Ichigo had to ruin everything.

Kurosaki Hayato did not live in an elaborate location. In the off skirts in a lower, demon-infested level of Hell. He kept to himself. He doubted anyone knew where he was. But times were getting tough. For some reason, passageways to Hueco Mundo kept popping out of nowhere. And not only that, he could feel Shinigami moving in the area.

Or he thought they were Shinigami. They carried a similar soul signature. Hayato had no need to distinguish between nationalities. They were all the same to him.

But this was very different. It was as if whatever forces moving through the area were setting up something. And he had to make sure that he wasn't caught in the crossfire. Hayato did not have the time to waste on a conflict.

Especially so soon after his failure. He needed time to rebuild. He needed time to create a new plan. And he needed time for the time to be right again.

He would have everything that he wanted. He just needed some time...

* * *

"Cloudy" by Simon and Garfunkel


	4. Cat's in the Cradle

Chapter 4 – Cat's in the Cradle

"A Lord!? Today!? Without any warning!?" a small, slim woman wearing large, thick glasses, "Why wasn't I told about this earlier!?"

"It's new for everyone else as well," Ichigo said, crossing his arms, "Major Thomas, this is not a big problem. It's Lord Mouken, not some standards carrying, stick up the ass killjoy. She's gonna be in and out." Major Thomas left out a loud huff.

"We gotta hold the standards! We have to be better than the other branches!"

"And we are. Why do you think we constantly have such high profile guests every other week?"

"That's not a good point! In fact, that's the worst point I have ever heard!"

"It's an excellent point, Major. I just need you to stop panicking over something so small," Ichigo said, "Watch in a few. She's going to be in and out."

* * *

Lord Mouken was always a strange one. When Ichigo met her, that fateful day a demon attacked Don Kanonji's stupid ghost busting show. She came, she fought, then she interrogated him. The questions didn't make any sense, but he now knew why. Yura might not have been the most by-the-book Lord, but she was still one, and she was very good at her job. She was brought in to be an unbiased decider. A tie-breaker essentially. Despite there only being nine Lords of Death, compared to the hundreds of the others, cliques were still made.

Lord Fabrizio Bolezn, Lord Chance Stevens, and Lord Vergil Alexanderson believed in the law of the land didn't like to stray far from it. Bolezn was old and Stevens was a former British Soul Reaper, so it made sense for them to be like that. Vergil was the odd one. He was relatively young, about twenty-nine or thirty. He was not a former Soul Reaper of any kind. He was just some relatively strong medium that became a Lord.

Ichigo had mental notes on all of the Lords, but the one on Vergil was the least complete. There was simply nothing known about him.

Nevertheless, Lord Mouken Yura and Lord Yaniel Diaz were free-spirits. Yaniel voted along the conservative block more, as he too was a former Soul Reaper. And the other four, the more experimental bloc were Lord Shamira Tobias, Lord Isaac Romanov, Lord Izem Adebayo, and Lord Lulu Al-Hashim and they were more open to changes. None of them were combatants and it showed in their voting histories as they preferred to act without violence.

So Yura was the odd one. She definitely liked to fight, but she also understood the importance of diplomacy. She was as unpredictable as they come. This made her insanely useful as well making her a major problem. Her voting history looked as if she just threw darts at a wall to see what she wanted to do.

No matter. She liked him. A lot. Yura constantly contacted him just to talk to him. See how he's adjusting. If he planned on seeing his old friends again. If he had any contact with any Shinigami. She was invasive, but that wasn't always a bad thing. He enjoyed the conversations...Somewhat.

* * *

"I'm not interested in a tour, Major," Yura said, with a large, toothy grin on her face, hair fashioned into a platinum blonde ponytail this go around, "I'm here for Kurosaki. We got some work to do." Major Thomas flinched in surprise.

"Uh, I-I'll go get him!" she started.

"No need," Ichigo said, with his ivory blade attached to his hip, "I'm here. Lord Mouken, good to see you again."

"Likewise Ensign. You got the message. We got things to do."

"Understood."

"Good boy. Major Thomas, keep up the good work."

* * *

"You know how she is," Ichigo said, trailing after the short dog demon, "The minute she got notification of your trip and she started flipping out."

"At least she cares," Yura replied, "You try to act all cool, but you know you get all giddy when you know I'm going to grace you with my beauty." Ichigo rolled his eyes.

"Hmm."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing. What are we doing?" Yura snapped her fingers.

"Ah, I remember now."

"You forgot?"

"I got distracted! Shut up!" Ichigo shook his head.

"Look, I got so much stuff I have to sort through on a daily basis. You'll know when you get to this level," Yura pouted, "Anyway, your little rampage in Hueco Mundo almost three years ago left a teeny power vacuum and we've been hard at work in making sure nothing shady goes on in there. At first, everything was okay. But lately, we have getting word of Russian Soul Reapers in the area."  
"In Hueco Mundo?"

"Yep. Our source saw them scouting the area. We've made it very clear in the past that the lands of Hueco Mundo are to remain unclaimed by any organization. It's the only safe haven for our Hollow friends. Disturbing their grounds only leads to problems for the world of the living."

"But the Russians didn't follow that advice?"

"They are arrogant. They assumed that we wouldn't keep a contact or follow up on this mess, as if they forgot about who we are. You killing Aizen was a good thing, for the sake of the world, but it just created another set of messes that we have to fix now."

"Should I have wanted for some guidance or something?" Ichigo asked, a bit more aggressively than he intended.

"No. You did the right thing," Yura said, shaking her head, "We not here to prevent people from accomplishing their goals or anything. We are here to control the stream of information and prevent panic."

"Isn't that just censorship?"

"In a way. Open knowledge of the Ryoka invasion would do nothing but weaken the standing of the Seireitei. Knowing this, we closed those avenues. You killing the leader of Hueco Mundo doesn't do anything...immediately dangerous."

"You paused?" Ichigo said, in a tone indicating that it was more of an acknowledgment that him asking her a question.

"Yeah...Had to figure out the appropriate phrasing."

"Didn't want to say something sensitive, huh?"

"More like I didn't want to say anything improper. Hueco Mundo is static. Hollows do not die natural deaths like Soul Reapers do. They persist, as immortal cockroaches or something. In the past, just killing them would have been good enough, but in order to maintain that perfect level of imbalance, we've cut a deal with them.

"If a Hollow is found in the world of the living, or any of the natural afterlives, they would be sentenced to immediate execution. If they were to escape to Hueco Mundo, they are free. There, inside the endless sands of Hueco Mundo, they are truly safe."

"They seemed pretty postured for an invasion when I went there," Ichigo replied, "Is that something that Aizen did?"

"He presented the possibility that they would be invaded, especially after they kidnapped Inoue Orihime," Ichigo briefly lost focus, but regained composure before Yura could notice anything.

"We waived the normal procedures to retrieve her. Normally, we would have let her stay, but she was a high-value target. Aizen wanted her for some reason, but we really didn't care. We got her and we prevented Aizen from doing anything reckless. A success story in my book."

"So Hollows that are in the World of the Living?"

"They are either brand new. Or they are ones who get bored and decide to be a menace. If they go back to the world of the living, they die."

"So what's the problem? Aizen is gone."

"The problem was never just Aizen. We had an established king there before. He was a dick and really hard to work with, but he better than nothing. Aizen, on the other hand, wasn't a goddamn Hollow. And worse off, we never established contact with him. The absurd surge of the Abyss creeping was also a bit concerning.

"We had plans for one king, but we found a better option a bit later. And better yet, we didn't haven't do anything. That is always the best possible outcome."

"I guess so. So where are we going?" Ichigo asked, crossing his arms.

"We're going to a lower level of hell. Yomi-no-Kuni, for us Japanese folk. This is where us Demon's are given free rein. The tower Etemenniguru, the most sacred of locations for demons, is housed there," Yura replied, voice significantly deeper and calmer than moments prior, "We've received notice of Soul Reapers in the area. And their uniforms are consistent with the Russian's garb. They're using gates to access Hueco Mundo without alerting us on where they are going. We've made our position clear on the matter of Hueco Mundo."

"And are we going to kill these people?"

"No. Not the ground troops. They will learn nothing that way. Besides, we won't be killing anyone ourselves."

* * *

Ichigo had a lot of people that he knew that he expected to see sooner than later. The one standing in front of him, however, was relatively low on his list.

"Kurosaki?" Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez, leaning against a tree, said in complete and utter bewilderment. Ichigo, knowing he had to keep a cool head, simply nodded.

"Aren't you a sight for sore eyes, Grimmjow?" he replied. Grimmjow just blinked.

"Oh yeah, you two did know each other? How cute," Yura said, playing with the tip of her ponytail, "He was the original one that Chance found. However, he was kinda bad at the job. Luckily, there was another."

"I'm struggling to think of an Arrancar that was suitable, but if you at any point thought that Grimmjow was okay, I'm guessing anyone would do." Yura chuckled.

"Yeah, we were kinda desperate. Luckily, Tier Harribel came in clutch and has been absolutely perfect for the job."

"I didn't want to do that shit anyway," Grimmjow huffed.

"And now look at you, kitty. You're a working hand for us."

"You're not just going to disrespect me to my face!"

"I will and I can. You are in no position to get prissy, pussycat." Ichigo stifled a laugh.

"Don't you dare mock me Kurosaki!" Grimmjow roared.

"Raise your voice at any of us again Grimmjow and you'll be leaving this existence in a body bag. Or fade away. I'm not particularly well versed and what happens to you Hollows when you die." Grimmjow scowled but did not offer a reprise. Ichigo chuckled at the declawing of the panther.

"Anyway, we try to keep a good rapport with the Hollows of Hueco Mundo. This Arrancar stuff has been a bit stressful to manage because Hollow and Shinigami aren't supposed to mix..."

"What did you do about the Vizards then?" Ichigo asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"Oh. Them. Not much," Yura replied, nonchalantly, "They were all high ranking Shinigami. We knew that they were not threats to our order. Now, some of them returning to the Seireitei was a problem, but a quick order to forbid them from using their masks was all we needed. And for them not to breed, even though we're pretty sure it's not genetic."

"Better safe than sorry," Ichigo said, "So about today. Why exactly is he here?"

"In case a FOB had been established, a cleaner. If not, someone who could pose a quick getaway." Yura replied.

"FOB?" Grimmjow repeated.

"Forward operating base. A small installation meant to support a larger deployment. It takes about three to four days to establish one, so could it be complete?"

"Probably not. This is extremely small scale operation. Black op, maybe."

"Why are the Shinigami even trying to invade Hueco Mundo anyway? What do we even have that they would want?" Grimmjow asked.

"They're not Shinigami. They are Dukh Soldat. Russian Spiritual Forces. And there holes in Hueco Mundo that give certain advantages to those who are aware."

"Aware of what?"

"Making a weapon out of the Hollow. Trying to cheat the process and create artificial Vizards with the whole other being living inside of them." Yura replied, "If you didn't know, there is some tension between the Soul Reaper factions. The Chinese and the Russian forces have ballooned out of control and they are kinda in the middle of a cold war that is getting hotter day by day."

"So? Let em fight," Grimmjow said.

"It's not that easy, Grimmjow," Ichigo said, with a sigh, "The Soul Reapers have an obligation to protect the world of the living, not to squabble about pointless land disputes and power struggles." Yura nodded in agreement.

"It doesn't matter that they are actively recruiting spiritually aware living people to fight for them as well. It's a frickin' mess that we can't do anything about because the assholes in charge are so damn stubborn. They want this glory war. They are posturing for it."

"Any other participants?"

"Americans, as per the norm. The Middle Eastern coalition might rattle them sabers, but we expect nothing."

"Awesome. We have to prevent a spiritual world war. Great news," Ichigo said. Yura responded with a shrug.

"Could be worse. At least the Militia is staying out of it."

* * *

The location that the Russian were going to use to stage their invasion was pretty difficult to find seeing that it was in the middle of a forest, where they had cleared the trees and flattened the earth. The effort must have taken weeks, if not months. They had been at it for a while.

"Wow. They did a hell of a job with the place." Yura said, "Really efficient. We could have past this place several times, if we had clue on that it existed."

"There's nothing stood up. The FOB could be used for entry control," Ichigo said, placing a hand on his ivory blade, "There's no telling if they had already entered or not."

"Nah, we ain't see nobody," Grimmjow said, roughly.

"Well, that's good. Let's see if we can find anyone," Yura said, rummaging through the bushes, without a fear in her mind. Ichigo sighed, removing his hand from his weapon and following her.

"Hello? Anyone here!?" she shouted. Some garbled shouted was heard, from an erected tent, and a short and round man flopped out, uniform completely out of sorts.

He had short, messy black hair and a patchy twelve-o-clock shadow. The uniform, a basic midnight green set with a featureless top and bottom. His boots were jet black rubber and looked as if they had not been polished for the past three days.

"This is who we gotta kill?" Grimmjow asked.

"I would prefer to not kill anyone here," Yura said, "Let me ask the questions. You! State your name and rank!?" The boy, as no one in the state that he was in could be appropriately called a man, gasped.

"извини меня?" he said. Yura blinked.

"He said 'pardon me'," Ichigo said, stepping in front of her, "I can talk to him. I already have an idea what you are going to ask him.

"You can speak Russian?" Yura asked, incredulously, "That's amazing."

"I can do a lot of things," Ichigo said, proudly.

If there was any benefit to being made out of sentient darkness was that he was not confined to human limitations. He did not have a brain, so anything that he learned stayed with him. He had a true photographic memory. He remembered every single detail of his life as if he was still living it. And while this made certain memories hurt more, this just meant that he could advance his current existence faster. He didn't have to study languages. Just read over a dictionary.

To no one's surprise, Hell was multicultural. Japanese, his primary language was extremely rare. English, the language that he was obsessed with when he had a heartbeat, was the tongue of the populous. Ichigo figured that Chinese and Indian would also be valuable pickups to learn, due to the sheer size of their populations.

Russian was an easy choice because he knew that eventually, he'll have to deal with them. And so he bought a Russian to English dictionary, and vice versa, and went to town scanning the books down. And look at that, he's already found an application for it. What luck!

"_You. State your name and rank. And are you alone?_" Ichigo ordered, sternly. The young Russian stiffened up.

"_Uhhh, Private Anatoly Voronin. I-I-I'm not alone..._" he replied.

"_Then wake them up and get them out here now,_" Ichigo growled. Anatoly flinched, before rushing into the tent and shouted at his partner. Anatoly returned to sight, followed by a skinny lad with black bangs covering his eyes. His uniform was the same as his partner's but it looked two sizes too big. Ichigo narrowed his eyes.

"_Uh, h-hello! What can-_"

"_Name and rank,_" Ichigo said, cutting him off.

"_...Private Ruslan Mateev,_" the boy responded.

"_You have any leadership here? You two look awful._"

"_N-No sir,_" Ruslan replied, "_It's just us two. I promise!_"

"_He's not lying, sir!_" Anatoly said, "_I swear that he's telling the absolute truth!_" Ichigo scoffed.

"_I believe him. Regardless, I don't care,_" he said, "_What are you two doing here? You are aware that it is illegal to occupy grounds outside your jurisdiction without explicit permission granted to you, right?_"

"_W-w-wha-_" Ruslan whined.

"_We w-were t-told that it w-was okay!_" Anatoly shouted.

"_Raise your voice at me again and I'll cut your tongues from your mouths,_" Ichigo said, voice level, but dipped into venom, "_Now I need answers on what you two are doing here and I will not tolerate a lie._"

"_We won't lie, sir!_" Anatoly and Ruslan said at the same time.

"_But I see that you find it fine to waste my time!_" Ichigo roared, "_Hurry up! My companions and I do not have all day to listen to you talk in circles! Why are you two here and what are you doing here!?_" Ruslan and Anatoly stood at the position of attention, stiff as a corpse, beads of sweat falling freely.

"_W-we were ordered here..._" Anatoly said, "_We were ordered to establish a camp..._" Ichigo tilted his head slightly.

"_How old are you two?_" Ichigo asked calmly.

"_Eh? Um, I'm nineteen,_" Anatoly answered.

"_I-I'm eighteen, sir,_" Ruslan replied. Ichigo narrowed his eyes. Grimmjow and Yura took a step back, feeling the rage radiating off of him.

"_Did you mean to tell me that your leadership told some under twenty pukes to establish a camp in the middle of Hell and expect me to believe it!?_" Ichigo screamed, placing a hand on his blade's hilt, "_Do you take me for an idiot or do you desire to be unrecognizable chunks of meat in the grass!?_"

"_Please don't kill us sir! We're telling you the truth!_" Ruslan begged, dropping to his knees in prayer.

"_I promise to you! I'm not lying!_" Anatoly said, completely frozen, "_We were ordered to do it! We didn't know it was wrong!_"

"_Who ordered you here!?_" Ichigo shouted, in the face of the cowering Anatoly.

"_M-major Robert Konstantinov!_" he answered, tears escaping his shut eyes freely.

"Robert Konstantinov. Ever heard of him, Lord Mouken?" Ichigo asked her, turning his neck to face her.

"Nope," Yura simply answered. Ichigo turned back to face Anatoly.

"_This Konstantinov have a boss?_"

"_Uh...Yes...Uhhhh, his name is Colonel Naumov,_" Anatoly said, still not opening his eyes.

"_First and last name,_" Ichigo said.

"_I don't know-_"

"_Lieutenant Colonel Rodya Naumov!_" Ruslan answered, still in the position of prostration.

"Rodya Naumov?"

"Ah, I know that one!" Yura answered, with a snap of her fingers, "Colonel Naumov is the field grade officer of the 12th Logistics division. Just underneath the commandant Colonel Dmitri Fedorov."

"So it's likely that those three are our targets?" Ichigo asked. Yura shook her head.

"Nah, Konstantinov is the sacrificial lamb if their little scheme was discovered. They properly step promoted him to use him as a mouthpiece to get some sheep out here. Our friends here were given questionable orders that were most likely not properly explained in the first place. Colonel Naumov and Colonel Fedorov are our targets."

"What should we do with these kids?" Grimmjow asked, clearly bored.

"Send them back. Ichigo, make sure they know not to speak," Yura said.

"Roger that," Ichigo said, before turning to the terrified Privates, "_You two are good to go._" Anatoly blinked in shock, as Ruslan brought his face out of the dirt.

"_Huh,_"

"_You are not to speak this to anyone. And do not worry. We will know if you do. And you do not want me to find you._"

"_N-no, sir! Thank you sir!_" the questioned sang, synchronized.

"_No need to thank me. Just remember to forget everything that occurred here._"

* * *

"Cat's in the Cradle" by Harry Chapin

Sorry for the delay. Real-life hits different. Also, welcome back Bleach!


	5. Goin' Through the Motions

Chapter 5 – Goin' Through the Motions

"The Russian Spiritual Military Complex is made up of twenty-one divisions," Yura said, lecturing Ichigo and one Arrancar who wasn't particularly interested in what she was saying, "Fifteen infantry, two communications, two logistics, one medical and one administrative. Our targets, Lieutenant Colonel Rodya Naumov and Colonel Dmitri Fedorov belong to the Twelveth Logistics Division. Not a real difficult mission ahead. They're soft targets. Ichigo could easily handle this by himself, but I want him to have a peel."

"Is that what I'm here for? A goddamn getaway vehicle?" Grimmjow growled.

"Not exactly," Yura replied, waggling a finger, "You're here to create a distraction. Because these bastards have shown that they cannot be trusted, I need Ichigo to implement some preventative measures. Things like wiretaps and some bugs in the system."

"Wouldn't it be easier to attack a Comms division?" Ichigo asked.

"Despite the Russian's having pushed through a much more modern infrastructure than years prior, it's still pretty outdated. All the networks are tied together. Secured lines and top-secret networks simply have higher forms of encryption. Anything that can access the network can access all of the systems."

"Seems a bit insecure," Ichigo replied, "How am I supposed to hack this thing? I'm not a computer expert or anything."

"You don't have to. Just get us a copy of the encryption codes. Find a laptop or PDA or something. Something mobile. A computer is cute, but they won't carry any hardcoded encryption codes on them."

"Right. Kill the Colonels, steal their phones, good to go?"

"Correct! Good job, ensign. Grimmjow, your job is to blow shit up. Do not kill anyone." Grimmjow rolled his eyes.

"I'll try my hardest," he said.

"I'm going to issue a very rare warning, Grimmjow. I'm a bit more flexible than the other Lords, but I will not tolerate you deliberately disobeying my orders. Fail to mind my words and I'll free you of your skin."

"Hmph..."

"I would listen to her, Grimmjow," Ichigo said, smirking, "Sounds simple enough. He doesn't need to get me out, by the way."

"You sure? We really don't need you getting caught," Yura said, "The militia getting involved in this would not be great."

"Don't worry. I won't be caught."

* * *

"You've been in a good mood lately," Abarai Renji, the Vice-Captain of the sixth division, said, leaning against the door-frame of Rukia's office, "I'm glad to see it." A small, sincere small crept onto the young woman's face.

"I'm starting to figure out what to do. What I can do. It's refreshing to look over the grief of the past," Rukia said, turning to face her longtime friend, "It's a shame that we have a lot to do to fully recover, but we're going to get back to where we were." Renji's smile wavered.

"Are...Are you sure you want to go back?" he asked. Rukia narrowed her eyes.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, there were a lot of problems before. There were a lot of gaps that were revealed with the invasion of the Wandereich and the betrayal of the Royal Guard. There still hasn't been any punishment for them."

"So you want us to not try to recover?"

"No...I think...I just want things to get better." Rukia sighed, rubbing the top of her head.

"I see where you are coming from, but change won't come from us. And for things to get better, there's need to be stability."

"Are you sure about that?" Rukia opened her mouth to say something, but no words came out.

"Anyway, I didn't come by to talk about work. I'm just glad that you're feeling better." Rukia smiled again, but this time, there was a feeling of uneasiness behind it.

* * *

"Why are you here?" Grimmjow asked. Ichigo, looking down at the gigantic military complex from a distance.

"I would ask whatever could you mean, but I suddenly released that I don't really care," Ichigo replied, "I don't need to answer to you,"

"There's something different about you. You're not wearing the Shinigami clothes anymore. You're not using that black sword anymore. I don't feel a single thing about you."

"Maybe I've become too strong to be felt by the likes of you."

"No. There's something else here." Ichigo scoffed.

"I really don't think you need to worry about that. You're not my prey. You need to keep a cool head and do what you are told." Grimmjow narrowed his eyes.

"You're talking as if you can speak down on me. You're as much as a dog as I am."

"Nah, not really," Ichigo replied, "I have value to the Lords. You're a tool. I'm an asset." Ichigo stood up and fully faced the blue-haired Arrancar.

"And I think this conversation isn't going to go anywhere. We need to hurry this up before they notice that their lambs have fled the herd."

* * *

The Shinigami were the only force that used strength-based promotions. Everyone else used a more traditional style of promoting the best person available. The Shinigami's system wasn't completely awful. It just meant that they were top-heavy on their strength. It didn't hurt that they were very small compared to other nationalities' forces.

Going off of what Ichigo was briefed, both of the Colonels that he was going for were rather old. Neither had decorated careers, explaining why they were longtime field grade officers. Yura had guessed that the secret deployment was a last-ditch effort for that sweet star pay. They were in charge of troop movement, which already wasn't a very prestigious job. And since they were Logistics, they didn't fight. Or they had very little combative capability.

This meant this would be pretty simple. Which made Ichigo somewhat feel bad. Of course, they would be reincarnated, but still, there was still a bit of guilt. All erased when Ichigo remembers why he's doing all of this nonsense.

Change your fate. Transcend the cycle. All in due time...

With a massive boom, Ichigo knew it was time to move. He had a very limited time to do what needed to be done.

* * *

"Come out you bastards!" Grimmjow shouted, smirking psychotically, firing a Cero. Within seconds, a group of soldiers flooded the streets, carrying rifles. Grimmjow placed a hand into his pockets.

"Ya'll some small fry. Where are the strong ones at?" he said smugly.

"_What the hell is that thing?_"

"_I don't know!_"

"Ah, I forgot. These dumbasses don't speak Japanese. Alright, time to hurt."

* * *

"_Is that a Hollow?_" an old man, with a thick gray beard, wearing a neat navy blue suit, "_Did they discover the Hueco Mundo project?_"

"_Worse,_" Ichigo said, standing in front of his desk, sword implanted into the floor as if it was a cane. The old man turned around, stunned. Ichigo's smirk grew.

"_You know, creating a portal directly to Hueco Mundo in the middle of the second layer of Hell wasn't a completely terrible idea. Buuuuuut, you probably should have had someone a little bit more prepared to defend themselves or ready to throw their lives away in charge._"

"_The Lords seemed more ready to use a hammer rather than a magnifying glass in the past._"

"_Things change. I can read the paperweight with your name on it, but I want you to state it to me._" The old man looked down.

"_Rodya Naumov..._"

"_Step one._"

* * *

There was a lot that needed to be changed inside of the Seireitei and Rukongai. The Seireitei was a poorly hidden oligarchy run by the royal families. The Rukongai had no organization and fell into anarchy the further away they were from the Seireitei. For there to be true recovery, the Seireitei couldn't be the only focus. She was going to create change. Slowly, but that's all she could do at the moment.

Rukia sighed, closing the book she was working on. Renji's question had shaken what she was working to do. At first, she was extremely excited to just do something, but now she had to focus on what exactly she wanted to do and how she was going to do it.

First things first, she had to learn the reality of what exactly happened those fateful six months ago.

She looked at the clock and saw that it was quitting time. Normally, she worked overtime just simply because the job helped her forget her sadness. But now, she needed the rest. Not only was she looking at what she needed to fix the world, but she was also playing as a therapist for the emotionally starved eleventh division. It was tough, seeing that talking to them was harder than trying to console a pulled grenade. But day by day, she was starting to penetrate their tiny, combat hungry brains.

She arose from her well-used seat and trudged toward her door. She mindlessly slid the door open and was face to face with the Captain of the Fourth Division, Unohana Retsu. Or face to chest, as Rukia is pretty short.

"Vice-Captain Kuchiki, nice to see you," Retsu said, with a smile on her face. Rukia stiffened.

"C-C-Captain Unohana! What can I do for you!?" she said, a bit louder than she expected and wanted.

"You keep a very neat office. Isane could learn a thing or two from you," Retsu said, "She's always so busy and stressed out. I wish I could comfort her better."

"Uh, did you want me to talk to her?"

"Oh, I got distracted a bit. No, I actually wanted to talk to you," Retsu said, "Are you hungry? There's a nice udon shop that I would like to go to."

* * *

"Isane can't know about this, Vice-Captain Kuchiki. She gets quite jealous very easily," Retsu said, sitting at a booth at the udon restaurant, "Oh, we're off work. Do you mind if I call you Rukia?"

"Of course I don't mind, Captain Unohana," Rukia replied.

"Good, good. Why we're here, you can call me Retsu. I promise I won't be offended."

"I...I don't think I can do that," Rukia said, looking at her bowl.

"Oh, try it out. I promise not to bite."

"Ok..."

"Anyway, I did actually want to talk to you. You have been an example of strength among your peers, but how do you feel?"

"Uh, lately I've been feeling much better Cap-I mean Retsu...For a long time, I was in a bad place, but I've been hearing that people have been looking up to me. So I have to take it to be what they look to me for." Retsu smiled.

"That's good. I'm glad that you are feeling better." Retsu placed her elbows on the table and cupped her chin with the back of her hands.

"So, what did Kurosaki mean to you, exactly?" she asked. Rukia blinked, in confusion.

"That's...Uh, a pointed question," she replied.

"Oh, I don't mean romantically. I know you two weren't involved in that sort of way unless he was unfaithful. I meant what did he mean to you in a personal way." Rukia looked back at her bowl, wishing it had the answer that she wanted, but knowing that it didn't.

"Ichigo was...He was someone I knew I could depend on. He was independent, despite being new to being a Shinigami. And despite being my first subordinate...He outgrew me very quickly. He was stronger than I ever could expected. And he was wiser and more thoughtful than fifteen year old should ever be. He never had a chance to live for himself...And I wonder if I took any chance for him to do so."

"I don't think he would ever blame you," Retsu said, "He was a clever one. Still might be." Rukia narrowed her eyes.

"Wha-"

"I didn't mean anything by that statement," Retsu said, covering her mouth with her hand, "I was only talking about how he seemed to be more forward thinking than any youths I've seen. Even after death, I still think he has some tricks up his sleeve." Rukia's eyes widened, getting a small chuckle out of the elder captain.

"Don't worry, Rukia. I have kept this secret close to the chest." Rukia relaxed slightly.

"So you knew? I guess he couldn't keep everyone out of the loop," she said.

"Ichigo's case is an interesting one, yes. But, he's not unique. But she was stronger than anyone that we have seen in a very long time. The human body is not meant to withstand such strength. And his body gave out at the worst possible time. He was a capable one, but not immortal."

"Was this always guaranteed to happen?"

"I'm...I'm not exactly sure," Retsu said, looking up at the ceiling, finger poking her lip, "Likely, but most likely not as violent as it did. He gained too much power too quickly. Even if he was never forced to fight, the disruption to his soul would eventually burn him out. I can assure you that you did nothing to expedite his demise. Rid yourself of the guilt."

"I'll try to do that."

"A try is not good enough. You will either fail or succeed."

"...I see..."

"Good."

* * *

Another elder man, in an identical blue suit as Rodya, stood, staring out of a wall-sized window. He heard the booms. He felt the Arrancar move. And he felt his underling disappear. He knew that he couldn't hide anything from the Lords, but he had to try. But it was worth a try.

Dmitri Fedorov was no coward. He would face death with dignity.

"_So what exactly was the plan?_" Ichigo asked, walking through the office doors, "_A full-scale invasion of Hueco Mundo to grab...What? Lost technologies from former Shinigami that aren't there anymore. Figuring out how Arrancar work?_"

"_Hueco Mundo is a hive of power. Untapped potential. Hollows are the least of our concerns,_" Dmitri said, "_There is so much that we could learn about true power. About the true Abyss._"

"_Hmmm...That's an interesting statement that you had. You wanna explain it?_" Dmitri smirked.

"_There's a war going to sparked. The age of strength is dead and what will rise in place is a war of the minds. And Hueco Mundo holds the key to unleashing said strength. The natural Arrancar. How a Hollow can develop a Soul Cutter...The one who discovers this will hold the greatest weapon of them all..._"

"_I see. How a Hollow can ever develop a Soul Cutter..._" Ichigo said looking at the ceiling, "_I guess I have a lot of work to do._"

"_I suppose that you do,_" Dmitri said, before quickly drawing a pistol from his desk and firing three rounds at Ichigo, who deflected the shots without thought. Dmitri froze, feeling a searing pain in his shoulder. He looked down and saw a white blade lodged deep inside his arm.

"_Good idea,_" Ichigo said, "_But not today. Enjoy the next life._"

* * *

"Next up on the plate...Hollows," Ichigo said, back in his empty apartment, typing onto his notepad list of things he needs to figure out. Hollows were always a mystery to him. How one was created. How did they ever develop Zanpakutōs? Aizen didn't create the first Arrancars...He just empowered them and gave them a higher level of evolution. Vasto Lorde, to his knowledge, didn't have Zanpakutō. So where did they come from?

"I guess I could ask an Arrancar..." Ichigo said, with a smile. He'll worry about that later. Right now, he needed to figure out whatever was the true Abyss in Hueco Mundo. That was a big one.

The spread of the Abyss was the only thing that could ruin his plans. He needed time and the Abyss was the equivalent of an alarm clock. Only when the alarm sounds, the universe will collapse on itself and die.

Hmm, that was a bit grim.

But it was the truth. The Abyss needed to be halted. Or the cycle escaped before the Abyss devoured everything.

Also, it wasn't like he could just freely saunter into the Abyss. He needed a peel. He needed an excuse. He still didn't know how much anyone about him. He could guess that the Lords knew he was an Abyssal, but they never mentioned it nor had him do anything with the Abyss.

Maybe they didn't know. And that would just be...perfect.

But it was unlikely that could be the case. But there is always hope.

* * *

"Goin' Through the Motions" by Blue Öyster Cult


	6. Kids

Chapter 6 – Kids

_Two weeks after Ichigo's death_

_ One single bar._

_ One single bar._

_ Inoue Orihime had never been so relieved to fail something in her life. She hadn't felt any symptoms. She was late on her period, but only by a couple of days. The sheer amount of fear that she experienced at the moment could not be properly explained in words. If she was pregnant, she didn't know what she could do. She was truly alone. She could barely feed herself on her income, so a baby would have been impossible._

_ There was a small part of her brain wishing that she could carry something of Ichigo's into the world, but it was quickly dashed by the logical side stabbing it to death without remorse. She knew that Ichigo's family wouldn't allow her and their latest and greatest family fall too far, but to ask for that would make her feel like the lowest form of trash. This wasn't even pride. Just heaps of shame built up over years and years of resentment and self-loathing attacking at her ability to ask for anything. _

_ Ever since Ichigo had died, it seemed as if her world was falling apart. The eternal fear of the Royal Guard snatching her again persisted in her head. The duty of being a big sister to the remaining Kurosaki children rested on her. She needed to be strong in public._

_ She wanted nothing more than to cry and vent in private, but she couldn't. She simply couldn't. She didn't know why. Maybe it was because he finally opened his heart to hers. Maybe it was because he left in peace, even if it was before his time. She loved Ichigo with all of her heart. And he loved her back, even if he wasn't as open with his love as she was. _

_ She wasn't going to allow herself to fall into despair...No matter how hard she wanted to..._

* * *

Present day

"Kuchiki-san!" Orihime shouted, rushing to hug her friend, as Rukia entered the Kurosaki clinic. Rukia smiled, returning her hug.

"It's so great to see you, Orihime!" Rukia said. She said this every single time she saw her, but it was the truth. Just seeing Orihime filled Rukia with a joy beyond imagine. Orihime never signed up for this life, but she handled all the horrors in stride. She lost her first love and yet still managed to be strong for the family. She was inspiration that Rukia needed to be strong for her Squadron and the Shinigami.

"What brings you here today?" Orihime asked, bringing Rukia into the living room and onto the couch.

"I just came to see the girls. I've been neglecting them...I hope they understand," Rukia said, softly. Orihime giggled.

"No need to be afraid. Karin-chan and Yuzu-chan love you! They understand that you're really busy!"

"I hope so," Rukia said, with a small smile on her face, "Have you come to see them as well?" Orihime shook her head.

"I came to help Kurosaki-san with the clinic, while they're at school," Orihime replied, "He was busy today. Every so often, I'll come by and help and. Kurosaki-san said that I'm great at my job and that he loves having me around. He said that he'll get Ishida-san to write me a recommendation for nursing school."

"A nurse!? That's amazing Orihime!" Rukia exclaimed, excitedly, "I know that you'll be perfect for the job!" Orihime's smile dropped and her eyes drifted towards the floor.

"I don't have any savings..." she replied, voice almost a whisper, "I can't afford to go to school."

"What!? That's nonsense!" Rukia shouted, "There has to be something that we can do. You've done more than enough to deserve to go to school." Orihime sheepishly smiled.

"It's okay, Kuchiki-san," she said, softly, "I understand why you feel that way. As much as I want to go to school, the realities of my situation prevent me from doing so." Rukia shot out of her seat, in a fury.

"But that's not fair! You've already suffered enough! Why can't you have anything!?" she shouted, fire burning in her eyes, "What good is a civilization that doesn't help those that need it!? Who won't even give you the opportunity to succeed!?" Orihime small smile remained.

"I wish the world could be like that...But it's not," she said, calmly, contrasting the rage engulfed Shinigami, "Not everyone gets a choice in what they want to do. Not everyone gets a chance to succeed." Rukia's look softened.

"Orihime, why are you okay with this?" Tears started brimming in the young healer's eyes and Rukia sat back down beside her.

"I'm not okay with it. I have just accepted that there is nothing that I can do..." Rukia wanted to say something, but couldn't find the right words to say. It was like that in the Rukongai as well. Not everyone had a chance for success or at least a happy life. The Shinigami Academy offered a new life but only for those who were naturally talented. Everyone else was stuck with their luck of the draw.

Was she too short-sighted in what she wanted to do? Renji's words had shaken her resolve and now Orihime's opened another angle that she wasn't even aware of. She wanted to make the world a better place, but she simply couldn't comprehend the scale of the tasking that she was taking on.

"Can you allow me to be mad for you?" Rukia said, softly. Orihime's smile brightened.

"Of course, Kuchiki-san."

* * *

"Four phones and two laptops? You are an overachiever, dude!" Yura shouted, prompting Ichigo to pull the phone receiver away from his ears, "We're already hard at work cracking these bad boys to see what else our Russian comrades had planned."

"Do you think that they are going to notice that their phones and laptops are missing?" Ichigo questioned, calmly, "I'm sure that they are running an inventory as part of their investigation. The minute they notice that they're missing, they might hurry to change the encryption codes."

"Hmmm, I never really thought about that," Yura replied, "But infrastructure change of that magnitude would take a very long time. By the time the encryption codes are changed, we'll already be done with the tech that we got."

"I see. Did Grimmjow do a satisfactory job?"

"Louder than we wanted, but it did the trick. We've already reminded Russian leadership that retaliation is forbidden if the target is inside Hueco Mundo. I think they knew that we know what their little scheme was as well."

"So what's next?"

"The example has been dropped. More ambitious nations will be a bit more cautious when they try something so aggressive. Or at least I hope," Yura said, "Regardless, this act will not be tolerated in the future and will be punished significantly harder in the future."

"Two people are dead and that's not a harsh enough punishment?" Ichigo questioned.

"Of course not. Two people are absolutely nothing in the scope of a full force. They've already been replaced."

"I see."

"I knew you would. Have a good night, Kurosaki."

"Same, you too," Ichigo said while hanging up. Talking to Yura was always a hassle because of how small she made every action feel. She viewed death the same way a farmer views a felled grape. It was quite unnerving...As long as he stayed on the Lords' good side, he would be fine.

Ichigo looked out of the window and saw nothing but gray skies. Ichigo chuckled to himself, cursing his luck that he chose that day to walk to work.

* * *

Ichigo could have used the Abyss to go home, but that's an incredibly trivial way to use a power that he could not, under any circumstances, reveal that he had. If anyone suspected that he was Abyssal, his mission would become almost impossible. So he'll accept an afternoon of being wet rather than throw everything away.

Still, an umbrella would have been nice. That or at least a hood on his blouse. He probably should have looked at the weather for the day. He could have prevented fifteen minutes of being pummeled by raindrops if he had just the slightest bit of foresight.

He turned to walk through the park near his apartment. It wasn't a particularly nice park. I was just a massive plot of land sectioned off to create some natural beauty. It was...acceptable. There were a lot of wooded areas and the park was kept somewhat clean. It hit the bare minimums to be considered a park, but standards are standards.

Ichigo's attention was caught by the rustling of leaves. He wasn't a paranoid man, but his profession ad those that he associates with had started to give him a reason to. At this moment, Ichigo felt that an attack would not be the wisest of decisions, but he also knew that he couldn't count on any possible assailant to think the same.

"Show yourself," he called out, "You've been noticed." The bush that the rustling came from ceased motion. Ichigo took a cautious step toward it.

"I'm giving you a warning." Ichigo stopped in front of the short bush and paused, hoping whatever was in it would come out and make his day a lot easier. After a brief pause, Ichigo sighed, reaching his right hand into the bush. He shuffled around, before finding flesh and-

"Fuck!" he shouted, falling back with something attached to his hand. Something really heavy.

Ichigo looked at his hand, to see a small girl with pointed ears on the top of her head, sinking her fangs into his hand. The bite really didn't hurt and there was a smidgen of blood drawn, but the surprise of the act caught him off guard. Ichigo calmly looked at his hand, then the little girl, who was growling intensely.

"Uh, are you ok?" he asked. The girl turned her head viscously, in a vain attempt to remove his hand from his wrist. Ichigo and his hand did not budge.

"I would like if you would let go of me." The girl also did not budge. Ichigo sighed, rising to his feet. The girl fell off and onto her back, before scrambling behind a tree, hugging it tightly. Ichigo chuckled squatting down to her height.

"Are you okay? You had a bit of a fall back there," he said, calmly. The girl glared daggers into him.

The girl looked as if she either had the worst sunburn he had ever seen or the most unfortunate skin tone possible. Her skin was an orange-like pink and it looked painful to touch. Her hair was an extremely knotty, very dark auburn tone. She was wearing a long, dirty tee-shirt and...what appeared to be nothing else. She had a small nub of a tail on her back.

Despite being a fox demon, her yellow eyes had a certain life to them not consistent in demons...Oh...

"Are you a half-demon?" Ichigo asked. The girl did not respond. Looking deeper into her, she looked as if she could pass as Japanese. It was worth a shot.

"Are you a half-demon?" Ichigo repeated, in Japanese this time. This time, the girl's ears perked.

"My name is Kurosaki Ichigo," he announced, "Do you have a home to go to and get out of the rain?" The girl blinked, before shutting her eyes tightly and shaking her head.

"Do you have any family?"

"...My Nan..." the girl said, softly.

"Is she nearby? I would feel better if you were with her." The girl hid her face behind the tree.

"She's sleeping..." Oh. Ichigo walked to the tree and sat in front of it.

"Do you have a home to go to?" he asked, sincerely. The girl did not move from behind the tree.

"...It got burned..." she said, voice breaking. Ichigo closed his eyes.

"I can take you somewhere to eat. It'll be a nice place too," he said, "Are you hungry?" An ear popped from behind the tree.

"Come, I'll take you there," Ichigo said, reaching out a hand. The ear promptly hid itself.

"Okay, okay," Ichigo said, chuckling, putting his hand away, "You can just follow me. Still, let me feed you."

* * *

Ichigo had to give a hand to the girl. She didn't trust strangers. She was walking about twenty paces behind him, in a guarded stance. Granted, she was a little girl, so the stance was more for inner fortitude than anything useful. But she was still following Ichigo, in the rain that refused to cease.

"Do you like ramen?" he asked. The little girl's face lit up, in a grand smile, as she sped her pace up.

"Good, we're on the right track," he said, "It's right up here. Let's get a seat."

* * *

Ichigo entered the restaurant and shook some of the water off of him.

"Hey, Ensign Kurosaki!" the cook at behind the bar shouted, "Nice of you to come!"

"Yeah, hey Touji," Ichigo said, noticeably muted, "Hey, do you have a jacket for a small child." Touji, the mid-aged cook tilted an eyebrow up, before the door opened again and the small girl entered.

"What the? Who is that?" Touji exclaimed.

"This is...I actually don't know her name. I found her at the park."

"She's going to freeze to death! Reika! Reika! Get one of Touya's bigger coats! I need it now!" The little girl blinked in confusion.

"I'll get some towels and some menus," Touji said, "Take a seat. Don't worry about the chairs you two."

"Thank you Touji," Ichigo said, "Would you like to sit together?" The little girl looked at the rest of the booths, before nodding vigorously. Ichigo smiled, taking a menu from Touji and handing it to her, as they sat.

"I'll get whatever you want to eat for you," he said, "Take your time." The little said at the menu, in complete and utter confusion. The menu that they received was in both English and Japanese.

"Do you know how to read?" Ichigo asked. The little girl looked up from the menu, before resuming her mission, burning a hole through the menu with how intense her glare was. Ichigo shuffled out of his seat and sat next to her.

"Do you have an idea on what kind of flavor that you want?" The little girl merely blinked.

"Miso it is. There are several types of meat that you can have. Which one do you want?"

"I want beef!" the girl shouted, before shrinking in place again. Ichigo smiled.

"Do you have a certain kind of beef that you want?" More confused blinking.

"I...I just want beef..."

"Understood." Ichigo moved back to his original seat as Touji approached, with a gray puffer jacket fitted for a child.

"I'm glad Reika bought so many jackets for Touya to grow into," he said, with a hearty laugh, "This one might be a little big for her, but it'll be better than a ratty t-shirt."

"Thanks Touji."

"...Thank you..." the little girl said, quietly.

"Are you two ready to order? Don't worry about a thing; everything ya order in on the house!"

"I'll take the katsu beef ramen in a miso broth for the lady and my usual for myself," Ichigo said, folding the menus back together and handing them to the restaurant owner. Touji walked back to his domain and Ichigo turned to his guest.

"So what is your name?" Ichigo finally asked.

"...Rin..." she answered, averting her eyes. Ichigo smiled, finally feeling as if the walls were falling between them.

"That's a pretty name. Do you have a family name?" Rin shook her head, eyes shimmering.

"The fire..." she muttered, ears turning downward. Ichigo pieced it together and made a mental note to not mention it in the future.

"Rin, I'm very glad that you came with me," Ichigo said, "It's been cold lately and the rest of January is going to be colder. No one should be out on the streets like this."

"...I'm okay with the cold..."

"But you shouldn't have to be. Especially alone." There was a long period of uncomfortable silence between the two of them.

"Thank you," Rin said, with a small smile on her face. Ichigo chuckled, playing with his chopsticks.

"You're welcome," he replied, "Do you know how to use chopsticks?" Rin narrowed her eyes, as she pulled them apart and showed him that he could.

"I was just asking."

* * *

"You're a good man, Kurosaki," Touji said, as he collected the bowls off of the table, "A lot of people wouldn't be able to do what you did." Ichigo rolled his eyes.

"I didn't do anything drastic," he replied.

"Does she have anywhere to go?" Ichigo shook his head.

"...Damn..."

"Ichigo, the coat doesn't fit!" Rin shouted, sleeves flopping around as she struggled to zip it up. Ichigo knelt down and finished the job for her.

"It's a little big, but it's better than nothing," Ichigo said. Rin nodded.

"What are you going to do with her?" Touji asked, in English.

"I don't know quite yet."

* * *

"It's not raining anymore," Rin said, handing the hand of the person just over an hour ago she was completely terrified to be within ten meters of. So they were making progress.

"How long have you been by yourself?" Ichigo asked. Rin looked into the sky.

"Uh, I don't know," she replied, "I think it was a long time since I saw Nan."

"A long time? How you managed to do that?"

"I got lost looking for food...I didn't know how to get back home...Normally Nan takes me places but this time she couldn't."

"You had a home?"

"Yeah! It was a tent!" Rin should, excitedly, tail wagging in step, "It was cold but Nan would tell me stories before I went to bed and we had an itchy blanket to stay warm!"

"That's nice."

"Do you have a tent!? Maybe you can find Nan's tent for me!"

"I don't think there's anything at Nan's tent that you want to go back to," Ichigo said, grimly, "But we'll do our best to find it." Rin's tail stopped wagging.

"Is Nan okay?" she asked in a whisper.

"...No, she isn't," Ichigo answered. Rin's small tail sagged as her ears fell limp.

"Did I do something wrong?" she asked.

"There was nothing you could do, Rin. It was time."

"...Do I have to go back to the tent?"

"No, I won't do that to you," Ichigo replied, before he could fully process the question. He really didn't have time to take care of a child. But at the same time, a child will give him a decent cover for his day-to-day finances. And it'll give him something to do when he's off work instead of...more work. And Ichigo really didn't want to put a half-demon through the systems.

"You can stay with me, as long as you want to," he said, calmly. Rin looked up at him, eyes wide.

"...Really?"

"Of course you can. I have plenty of space, especially for someone as small as you." It was probably the fact that she was homeless for the past couple of years, but she was fairly short and frail. Her hand was small and thin. Ichigo definitely felt compelled to keep her with him. She had a hard enough life. There was no need to continue her suffering.

"You'll really let me stay with you?" she asked again.

"Of course." Rin looked at her feet but continued to keep pace with Ichigo.

"Okay..." she said, voice barely above a whisper.

"Alright. Let's go to the store and get some things for you."

* * *

"Whoa, it's so big! Way bigger than the tent!" Rin shouted, as she stepped foot into Ichigo's apartment. Ichigo put his keys in a bowl on the coffee table in his living room. He then walked into the kitchen and placed the plastic bag holding the produce that he purchased from the store on the table.

"Rin, when was the last time you have a bath?"

"Uh, I don't know," Rin shouted, from another room, "Wow! This bed is so big!"

"Don't get on the bed," Ichigo shouted, "I'm going to draw a bath for you." Rin stumbled out of the room, with a guilty expression on her face.

"Sorry, Ichigo. I was excited," Rin said.

"Do worry Rin. Let's just get you cleaned up before you go to bed," he said, grabbing a bottle of shampoo, conditioner and a shampoo brush.

"Okay! I love baths!"

"I promise you this one won't be so pleasant," he said, putting on a pair of goggles and gloves.

* * *

"Ichigo! My hair!" Rin yelped, squirming as Ichigo, without mercy nor passion, scrubbed the shit out of her scalp with the shampoo brush.

"Rin, if you stop moving, it'll end sooner," Ichigo said, struggling to keep hold of her as she wiggled violently, thrashing about like big game tuna.

"It hurts!"

"I know that! Calm down!"

* * *

"Whoa, my hair is extra fluffy," Rin said, admiring her messy, but now clean mop on the top of her head. Ichigo, sitting on the couch with the goggles resting on the top of his head, nodded.

"You know, I had sisters," he said, "My dad was really bad at doing their hair, so I did. It...wasn't fancy or anything, but small ponytails and stuff like that was really easy." Rin joined her new guardian on the coach.

"You had sisters? Where are they?"

"They live somewhere else," he stated, straightforwardly, "I'm positive they would love you if they met you."

"You think?" Rin said, as she pet her own ears.

"Sure. You wanna see a picture of them?" Rin's ears perked up.

"Yeah! Yeah!" she said, bouncing in her seat. Ichigo stood up and walked over to a shelf, with a book with no cover.

"I got a lot of pictures before I had to move," he said, "Most of these are when they were about your age. Speaking of which, how old are you?"

"I don't know! I don't know how to count!" Rin said, far too excited to reveal her ignorance.

"You are proving to be quite the mystery, aren't you?" Ichigo said, sitting back down beside her. Rin leaned over, to see the pictures.

"This is when my family and I went to the beach. This is about a year before...Nevermind. Karin is the one with the black hair. Yuzu has the light brown hair. That woman is my mom," Ichigo said.

"That's you, right? The boy," Rin said. Ichigo nodded.

"And that's my dad. We weren't a perfect family, but we were happy. To a point. Let me see if I can find a more recent picture." Ichigo quickly flipped through the book, "Ah, here's one. This was the first day they got their new uniforms from Mashiba Junior High School, my old school. They were so excited. Karin doesn't wear her expressions on her face but I could tell that she had been looking forward to that day."

"Whoa..." Rin said, amazed.

"Ah, look at this," Ichigo said, finding a picture with his entourage when he was living, "Let's see. The tall guy in the back is Chad. The guy in glasses is Ishida. The scrawny guy with brown hair is Keigo. The short guy is Mizuiro.

"That's a boy?" Rin said. Ichigo blinked.

"Huh, I never thought that he looked that much like a girl. Hmm. Well anyway, the taller girl with black hair is Tatsuki. The short girl with black hair is Rukia. And the girl with the reddish hair is...Orihime."

"Wow, she's pretty."

"She sure is. I think we took this picture during a trip that I didn't get saddled with my sisters."

"You don't like being with your sisters?" Rin asked.

"No, I just didn't want to always have to babysit them, if that makes sense," Ichigo replied, "Anyway, we got a busy day ahead of us tomorrow. I think you need to get to sleep."

"Do I get to sleep in that big bed?" Rin asked, excitedly.

"No Rin. That's my bed," Ichigo replied, "There is a smaller but still big bed that you can sleep in."

"I don't wanna sleep by myself!" she shouted, "I wanna sleep in the big bed!" She was starting to sound like Yuzu when she was fussy.

"Would you sleep in the other room if I also slept there?" Ichigo asked, smiling. Rin's ears, turning downward, answered him already.

"...It's scary to sleep by myself..." she said, curling into the fetal position. Ichigo nodded softly, understanding that she probably hadn't slept alone at any point in her entire life other than the period after her Nan died.

"You know that eventually, you'll have to move into the other room, right?" Ichigo asked. Rin nodded vigorously.

"Alright," he said, with a sighed, "You win. Let's get some sleep."

"Yay!"

* * *

Rin took up no space. She was already small enough before she folded herself into the fetal position while facing Ichigo. That was probably a holdover from her time sleeping in the camp. Luckily, she didn't have to do that anymore now that she was spending the rest of the January in a warm apartment now. Maybe, like the isolated sleeping trauma, would fade with time and quality therapy.

She was definitely a sweet girl. She had the right idea not to trust any random stranger. She was wary and cautious, but when you broke through, she was definitely warm and friendly.

The plan, for now, was to get Rin back into shape. Her hair, despite the effort Ichigo put into it, was made up of knots and split ends. It was far passed the point of no return. Her teeth could barely chew through tender beef. She most likely needed to be put on some diet plan to get her back to a healthy weight. But he definitely could do that. And why wouldn't he. Despite the gravity of his mission, there's still time to live, if not for himself, but for another.

And he knew he was lonely. He didn't have any friends. Only people that he could have casual conversations with. And that wasn't comforting in the slightest.

Rin was a child. But she had seen and been through a lot. And she was lonely too. Ichigo knew that he could improve the life of one during his time in Hell, he definitely would try.

It was honestly the least he could do.

"Ichigo?" Rin said, softly.

"Yes, Rin?" Ichigo responded, just as softly.

"Thank you," she said. Ichigo smirked as he faced her. That's progress.

"You're welcome."

* * *

"Kids" by MGMT


	7. Level One

Chapter 7 – Level One

Ichigo never had any desires of being a parent. Kids were disruptive and required a higher degree of care and acknowledgment that he could not guarantee. Ichigo preferred a life of solitude than a life with the "joys" of parenthood.

Which completely contradicted what Ichigo did with Rin, the little homeless half-demon he met on the way back from work. Despite him not liking children in the slightest, he couldn't just let the girl go hungry in the rain. And she really didn't have anywhere to go to...

Ichigo, staring into the void of night, knew that what he was about to do could end up being one of the absolute stupidest moves he may ever make. He had a mission, a mission that did not take account of a child. But the remains of his conscious screaming at him compelled him.

He was going to keep her. Let history be his judge.

* * *

"So good!" Rin cooed, scooping a clump of rice into her mouth, followed quickly with a small fried sausage, "Ichigo, you're so good at cooking!"

"I wouldn't say," he replied, with a coy smile on his face, "Anyway, eat up. We have a lot that needs to be done today and we might not have time for a solid meal for a while."

"Okay!" Rin entered a zen-like mode and with a snap of your fingers, her plate was cleaned. Ichigo stared in astonishment.

"Can I have some more, Ichigo!?" she asked, excitedly. Ichigo blinked, before nodding softly.

"Yay!"

It was a very good thing that she was eating, seeing how malnourished she was. She likely survived off of single meals a day for a while, if even that. He definitely needed to get her to a doctor to see if she had any health problems that he needed to take in mind.

"Can I have another plate?" Rin asked, holding a cleaned plate out, with outstretched hands.

"Jesus...Sure, go ahead," Ichigo said, struggling to choke back a laugh.

"Yay!" she exclaimed, victoriously, as she scooped up another plateful of rice, with a side of tiny sausages. Ichigo simply did not understand how a girl so little could throw down as much food as she could.

"Maybe she has a tapeworm or something," Ichigo mumbled under his breath.

* * *

"Major Thomas, I know it's really last minute, but I need the rest of the week off," Ichigo said, pleading his superior officer, "Probably next week as well. She...She needs some help." The smaller woman sighed.

"Normally, I would be quick to say no and tell you to do things the proper way," she started, "But, I don't recall you ever seeking time off. And there is a child involved." Major Thomas looked around her office, with a small look of confusion.

"Speaking of which, where is she?" she asked.

"She's in my office," Ichigo replied.

"You don't think she's going to wander around?"

"Not really. She's still in the terrified of everyone and everything phase."

"Ah."

In fact, I probably need to get back to her, before she starts to panic," Ichigo said, "Thank you for letting me have some time off. I greatly appreciate it."

"No problem."

* * *

Ichigo entered his office, to see Rin cuddled up in his chair, frozen.

"Hey," Ichigo said, shutting his door, "We got about two weeks to work with. In that time, I hope to get you into a school program to catch you up to your age group next fall. Should not be a massive issue. We're just going to have to work extra hard." Rin simply nodded.

"Are you okay, Rin? You have been a bit tight since we got here," Ichigo said, "I know you are a bit overstimulated by all the new faces, but they're good people. You can trust me." Rin nodded again, this time muttering a small, "Okay."

"Great. Anyway, we aren't going to be here much longer. We are going to get you some care."

* * *

Rin looked at her new haircut, a simple, short bob, that framed her face, with intrigue. The stylist told her and Ichigo the bad news; there was no savaging her mane. Her hair was far too matted and untamed. Ichigo's hair treatment was good enough to make it manageable to cut, but not enough to keep. Rin was disappointed at first until she was allowed to pick haircuts out of a brochure, in which her brief depression was replaced with pure bliss. Luckily for Ichigo, she picked a sensible one, because he wasn't sure he had the heart to deny her such joy.

"Ichigo! How does it look!?" Rin asked, excitedly. Ichigo smiled.

"It's suits you perfectly," he replied. Rin squirmed in her seat.

"I'm glad you like it so much," the stylist said, "And if you ever want to grow your hair back out, now you know how to take care of it." She led the girl out of her seat and started to walk her to a different part of the salon.

"Now, let's take care of those nails of yours," she said.

"I don't mean to rush you, but how long is this going to take? She has a dentist appointment in about two hours," Ichigo said, crossing his arms.

"Ah, don't worry about it. We'll be quick."

* * *

Note for the future, manicures and pedicures are a lot longer than you think they should be. The appointment left Ichigo just about fifteen minutes to whisk Rin to her appointment. Luckily, the salon was a couple of blocks away from the salon.

Amenities like these were very rare in Hell. The majority of the human workforce lived in the world of the living and used gates to access the realm, leaving the rest to the demons and the damned. Ichigo, chose to willing stay, knowing that no matter how far away from Karakura Town he goes, there was always the opportunity that someone would find him. He needed to stay away until the job was done.

Then he would go back...

Until then, keep moving forward. And right now, he needed to take care of the little girl that he had taken in. That was at least some form of positive energy he could give back. Affairs back home didn't matter right now.

...He really wished that he believed that. He knew things were dicey back in Karakura. His friends were being watched by multiple angles. The Shinigami. The Horsemen. The Royal Family. The Wandenreich. _Hayato_. He knew that if they were to take a single step over the imaginary boundary, that they would be slaughtered without a single regard to optics. They were threats, even if they didn't know it. And he hoped that they knew that.

The best precaution they could take at this point was to prepare for chaos to strike at any moment. Ichigo couldn't blow his cover to protect at the moment, so he just needed to trust in their abilities.

Oh well. He would adjust accordingly with the happenings of the future. No reason to fret out against something that he was unable to control at the current moment.

* * *

Similar to her nails, her teeth were mangled beyond repair. Her fangs were blunt and while she had avoided cavities, her teeth were soft and covered in plaque. Luckily, these were her first set of teeth and her new ones would give her a new lease at life. The dentist showed her many techniques to take of her teeth in the future and sent them off. There was no need for any real work.

Rin was cooperative throughout. She winced throughout the entire procedure, most definitely due to the sensitivity of her teeth, but all in all, it was a quick and painless hour-long check-up. She was easy to work with, even if she was terrified out of her mind.

She did refuse to cooperate if he wasn't in the same room as her, however. While she seemed to trust Ichigo unconditionally, the same could not be said for those operating on her. Of course, that made sense. She was a survivor. That automatic fear of others kept her at distance and prevented her from bonding with others. Ichigo broke through, but of course, he had significantly more time to do so and was not above bribing a child with food.

"Rin, your day is almost done," Ichigo said, "We're just going to see a doctor. Those are people whose job it is to make sure that you are healthy." Ichigo learned that breaking down a job to a simple sentence made Rin a lot more comfortable with whatever they were going to do next.

"Is there something wrong with me?" Rin asked.

"As far as I can tell, no," Ichigo replied, "But I'm not a doctor. I wouldn't be able to tell you."

"Is the doctor nice?"

"I've never met them, but they went above the norm to fit you into their schedule. I know you'll like them."

* * *

Soon after arriving, Ichigo was whisked away into a separate room, as Rin was examined. Rin almost immediately locked up, but after being assured that this was for her own privacy and that Ichigo was just a room away, she eased up. After the medical examination, she was moved into a room that looked like a children therapist's office and was talking to an aide.

Ichigo, reading news articles on his phone, sat impassively. There wasn't much he could do at the moment but wait for her to be done.

"Hello, Mr. Kurosaki?" a woman, who looked as if they were in their mid-thirties, wearing a long white lab coat, said, "Hi, I'm Doctor Reynolds. We just got done looking at her physicals. She's pretty lucky to be in the condition that you found her."

"Nothing long-lasting?"

"She's just underweight and has some nasty rashes that can be cleaned up quickly."

"Did you get an age?" Ichigo asked, opening a notebook and jotting down the information that he was told.

"DNA samples point to Rin being approximately five-years-old," Reynolds said, "She doesn't know her birth date, so I guess it'll be the date of adoption, whenever it's made official."

"Any news on her nan? She was in that park for a while."

"We found three cases of dead homeless women matching the description given to us by Rin. We zeroed in on a Yamada Suzu, eighty-eight. She was found at a campsite, about six kilometers from where Rin was found, approximately six days after passing on. That was about two months ago."

"Rin has been on her own for two months?" Ichigo asked.

"Yeah, she's a scrappy one. For someone lacking the ability to write, read, and count, she's insanely intuitive. Bless her demon heritage for also keeping her alive as well. She would have been in an infinitely worse state without it, despite the prejudice for half-demons."

"I guess...She wandered pretty far as well." Reynolds chuckled softly.

"She told us that she got lost and didn't know her way back. Poor girl."

"So what's next?"

"Just make that she eats a well-balanced diet and that she uses the lotion that we are prescribing her daily. Easy as that."

"Okay. I can do that."

"You know, Mr. Kurosaki, you don't have to do this." Ichigo did not react.

"You're still young. You have a promising career going with the militia. You're already ahead on many social curbs. So you don't have to do this. A child could get in the way of your future."

"While it would be infinitely easier for me to try and find a family for her, I know that I wouldn't feel good about that. I'm capable of handling her, along with the responsibilities of my duties. And I want to do this...Not just to make myself feel better. I feel like I owe it to Rin to provide her with a stable house that she has never had." Reynolds smiled, nodding her head.

"Aren't you a noble spirit. Well, I can give you some tips, being a parent myself," she said, "There are times where she's going to frustrate you. And there are going to be times where you're not going to have the patience to deal with her. But you have to be calm and understanding. You are now her father and even if she doesn't act like it some days. She's going to need you to be there for her. I hope you can."

"I see," Ichigo simply stated, "The only thing I can do now is try."

"You'll be fine, Mr. Kurosaki. I know you'll be the best father that she could have ever asked for."

* * *

Ichigo was never fond of children. He was never around them too much, luckily. His former bosses brat and the shopkeepers weird...adopted children were the only ones that he spent any kind of time with. Due to the fact that his father was a shinigami separated from his family and his mother was a Quincy that was pretty much sold into a marriage to become some kind of Quincy baby factory, he didn't know too much of his family. There was one woman on his mother's side that he could vaguely remember.

He actually would have preferred to ship Rin off to another family and save himself the headache of raising her, but he did gain her trust. If he did all that he did and then sent her away would have been beyond cruel. The girl deserved some form of stability in her life. And he, somehow, was going to provide that for her. First, he needed her to learn basic functions.

"Rin, starting tomorrow, you're going to a special class that's going to get you ready for school," Ichigo said, "They're going to teach you how to read and count."

"Is it going to be hard?" Rin asked, nervously.

"I'm not going to lie. It's going to be tough. They have a month to teach you before you start kindergarten. There are going to be days where you're not going to understand things and I'm not going to be able to help you until you get home." Ichigo crouched down to her level, looking at his newly adopted daughter face-to-face.

"You're a very smart girl, Rin," Ichigo said, softly, "You managed to live on your own for a whole two months. I know you aren't going to be beaten by some words or some numbers. And I know that there are going to be some new faces that you might be afraid of, but they are there to help you. No matter how hard it may be, they will help you every single step of the way. And so will I, when we are home."

"...Really?" Rin asked. Ichigo chuckled while nodding.

"Of course, of course. And if they don't, they'll have to answer to me." Rin smiled brightly.

"That's a good sign," Ichigo exclaimed, "Now, are you hungry?"

"Yeah!"

* * *

"Level One" by Danny Brown

Sorry for the long delay. There were...things that happened that kept me from writing.


	8. Grind

Chapter 8 – Grind

Rin put on the bravest face that she could, but she was incredibly nervous. She knew that she had to because Ichigo had so much faith in her that she could. She couldn't, and wouldn't, let him down.

"Will they not like me because I'm a demon?" she asked, squeezing Ichigo's hand as hard as her tiny ones could. Despite everything that Ichigo had done to boost her confidence, with every step, her will eroded.

"Like I said yesterday," Ichigo said, strongly, "If they don't like you, they are going to have to answer to me on why they don't like you. Trust me."

"I'm trying..." Rin said, voice trailing off, "I'm scared," she finally admitted. Ichigo nodded.

"It's okay to be scared. This is all new for you. And I'm never going to tell you how you should feel," Ichigo said, "I want you to be calm, but I cannot force you to be that. The only thing that I can do is reassure you that I will always protect you from anything and everything." Rin looked up at her new father, a steadier expression on her face.

"I don't make that promise to just anyone...I'm not particularly good at these kinds of talks. But I am good at keeping a promise. I swear to you.

"So, just for me, let me keep my promise. Let me protect you. And I want you to just worry about being as happy as you can be." Rin blinked, feeling tears start to swell up.

"Ichigo..." she said, squeezing the hand a bit tighter, discovering a well of strength that she did not have before.

"I know you can do it. But at the same time, I need you to also rely on me. Trust in the promise that I gave you." Approaching the school, Rin's already iron-clad grip became tighter. Ichigo chuckled, noting that she was acting a lot like Yuzu would have in the same situation.

"I'm not feeling the trust, Rin," he stated, tone light.

"I'm trying..." Rin said, partly underneath her breath. A young woman, with a light olive complexion, long black hair with a large blue bow in it, and a long-sleeved yellow dress, emerged through the double-doors that acts as the entrance to the school.

"You must be Ensign Kurosaki?" she said, "I heard that it would be impossible to miss out on catching you."

"This hair of mine is becoming hard to not see," Ichigo said, with a forced smile. It wasn't that he did not want to be there. He knew that he should have shown a true sense of enthusiasm or something. But man he really couldn't even muster up fake emotions. Hopefully, his fake smile wouldn't upset the teacher or rub off on his new daughter.

"Uh..." Rin groaned, hiding behind Ichigo's leg.

"I thought we were getting over this," Ichigo said, with a small chuckle, "Come on, you're better than this."

"No, I'm not! I wanna go home!" The teacher laughed, crouching down to the young girl's eye level.

"I know how it is, being a demon going to a school. When I was a young girl, just like you, I went to a school in the world of the living," the teacher said, sincerely, "I'm a half-demon, just like you." Rin blinked, her grip on Ichigo's leg lessening.

"My mother made me wear a headband to press my ears down, so I wouldn't be revealed," the teacher revealed, untying the bow in her hair, revealing a small set of ears that resembled a cat's, "My family couldn't afford a human skin, unfortunately. So a headband had to work.

"Once my ears became too large for those, she switched to a ribbon. It was a very large ribbon and it drew a lot of attention, some were positive, some was negative. All by humans who could never understand.

"You have a chance that all half-demons, like myself, always wanted. A chance to go to school with fellow demons. A chance to have a normal childhood. And you have friends going to help you every step of the way if you let them." The teacher reached out her hand, extending an invitation. Rin's ears fell.

"Is it okay that I'm scared?" Rin asked, softly. The teacher nodded.

"It is perfectly normal. Being scared of new things is natural." Rin looked down, before letting go of Ichigo's leg.

"I'll go..." Rin replied. Ichigo, impressed by the teacher's compassion, smiled.

"That's great! I'll lead you to your class!" Rin slowly walked to the teacher.

"Thank you for convincing her," Ichigo said, "I feel like I would have done more harm if I would have tried." The teacher chuckled slightly.

"Well, I'm quite experienced in this front, Mr. Kurosaki." Ichigo grimaced at the honorific attached to his name.

"Ugh, I feel so old when you call me that," he said, "You're definitely older than me Ms..."

"Xi," the teacher replied, "Xi Jiang. This is my third year teaching here. And Rin is certainly not the first half-demon that I've had to share my life story with."

"Ms. Xi. I'll remember that" Ichigo responded, "Thanks for taking care of Rin today."

"Just remember to pick her up. New parents tend to forget that step."

* * *

Ichigo, for the first time in three days, was completely to himself. So naturally, one as ambitious as he was going to do a bit of catch-up. The first thing that he needed to do was make sure that he wasn't missing any critical news. He had a personal device that allowed him to receive Militia emails, but he hadn't checked it for the past two days due to dealing with his new roommate. Now that he was free, sitting on his couch, he quickly scanned through his inbox, looking for keywords or important senders.

Normally, important emails wouldn't go to his work email. Too much oversight, too many eyes on it. Yura would send emails, but that's because she wasn't much of an email person in the first place and her assistants were the ones tasked with sending out notices. Everyone else contacted him directly. And luckily enough, he was never called.

Satisfied with the lack of interesting emails, Ichigo turned off the PDA and set it on the counter next to the couch. He didn't have the next step, seeing that he was still in the "needs guidance" phase of his plan. Autonomy didn't belong to him until he had a confirmed target in mind. He at least had the basic semblance of trust built up with the Lords of Death, even though his desire to be one of them was strong enough that the naked eye could see it.

Suddenly his phone burst with a loud ringing tone. Ichigo sighed, grabbing his phone out of his pocket and looking at the screen. The screen read, "Unknown Number." Oh boy.

"Hello," Ichigo answered, in English.

"Hello Ensign Kurosaki," the voice, belonging to a woman said, "This is Lord Tobias. Can you speak?" Oh boy.

"Of course," Ichigo said, sitting up, "What can I do for you?"

"Not over the phone. I already approved you for a ticket to Chicago. Come to me."

* * *

Ichigo had never left the country of Japan. It was always funny that he had explored different realms of existence, but had been locked to one country when he was alive.

...It was funny to him at least...

Regardless, he never thought he would be in America for business revolving the dead. He would say that it was somewhat neat, but that would be a lie.

Shamira Tobias was a very accomplished lawyer in the world of the living. After performing as one of the most accomplished prosecutors in the history of Illinois, she was elected the attorney general of the state. Shamira now runs a firm and seemingly has the wealth of Chicago in her clutches.

So why is someone like her so invested with the dead?

Born in Israel, her parents immigrated to the United States when she was a small child. Despite the move, her father continued to stir spirits as a medium. It seemed quite unfortunate that young Shamira inherited her father's powers, seeing that she cared little about that side of the spectrum. And yet, she is one of the most powerful names in the world of the living and the world of the dead and she never touched a blade in her life. How unusual.

The elevator to her penthouse ding when it reached the destination and the doors slowly opened. Ichigo stepped into the large home and was immediately greeted by a server.

"My lady is awaiting your company," the young man, in a sharp butler uniform said, "Follow me." Ichigo said nothing, following his steps with a short gap between the two.

The butler opened a door, leading into what Ichigo would assume to be a library. Shamira Tobias, a slim woman with long, straight black hair, awaited, sitting in a large, ornate chair. The butler stepped up to Shamira.

"Mr. Kurosaki has arrived." That bullshit again.

"Ah, perfect. Let him in," Shamira replied. The butler motioned Ichigo in, who took the queue.

"Good timing, Ensign. We have much to discuss. You are dismissed, William." The butler named William bowed, before turning on his heel and leaving.

"William is good help. Hard to find in this age," Shamira said, "My old butler would be so proud to see how far along he has come." Ichigo stood, impassively, which the Lord of Death noticed.

"Take a seat. This is an informal meeting. Right now, I am Shamira." Ichigo found a small couch, which he decided was as good as a seat that he was going to find.

"I have heard many stories about you, Ichigo," Shamira said, "Yura weaves tales about you. Impressive ones. You also managed to impressed Mr. Stevens and Bolezn. That's quality work."

"Thank you," Ichigo said, wondering if the rumors of Lord Tobias uncompromising professionalism was only in effect when she was in uniform.

"You also handled yourself well with that incident with the Russians. You have shown good work."

"Thank you."

"So now, I need you to impress me." Ichigo could feel the room darken.

"Are you aware of cults, Ichigo?"

"In Hell? There are thousands of them," Ichigo replied, "None major, however."

"Hell doesn't matter. Unfortunately, this one exists in the world of the living."Ichigo blinked, racking his brain on what it could be.

"Aizen Sosuke was a shard of the great soul of light, Geninnam. And this cult, the Way of White, claim to have the last shard to resurrecting it." The was a long pause in the conversation.

"Oh...That is not good..." Ichigo finally said. Shamira crossed her legs.

"Actually, that does not matter. Even if Geninnam is brought back, it is trapped inside the Abyss. The Way of White could not save the castle from being swallowed after the Knight Noel killed their leader."

"I see...The Way of White aren't going to be threats unless they find a way to move Geninnam out of the Abyss." Shamira nodded.

"And that's something that you are going to prevent. I do not want bloodshed unless it is necessary. And if you need to kill one, you have to kill all of them. Leave no trace of your involvement with them. Leave no traces that this cult ever existed."

"That's a simple task," Ichigo said, plainly, "I'm guessing there's more."

"I did say that we had much to discuss, seeker of thrones." Ichigo did not react visibly but mentally starting stacking routes to bury a Lord without throwing away progress that he had already made.

"Do not worry, Ichigo. I do not care why you locked Yhwach away from his throne. A throne that he could unlock, as he is a Quincy...Unless let's say, you had some form of special blood, hmmm?"

"Are you implying something?" Ichigo asked, cautiously.

"Ichigo, whenever I take interest in something, I do research. And I looked at every trace of Kurosaki blood and found that your family never split. The Kurosaki family line are pureblood Quincies. So pure that you still follow the first generation."

"I'm sorry if this sounds disrespectful, but I don't know that means. I don't know that much about Quincy lore and whatnot."

"I figured that you didn't. Yhwach awoke twice. Once was his birth. And next was his return. Both times he woke, a branch of Quincy rose with him. And your family belongs to the first..."

"So he can't unlock the throne because he forgot his first generation powers? That's...cool?"

"I figured that you made some last-ditch effort to prevent Yhwach from claiming absolute victory at that very moment, but it went better than expected. Yhwach needs you to unlock the throne. Which means Yhwach will work for you..." Lightbulbs went off in Ichigo's head, along with a caution sign.

"Why are you telling me this?" he asked, wisely. Shamira checked her watch, a small smile creeping to her face.

"I do not want Lords devoid of creativity. I sense that you know what to do with leverage. So flex it."

* * *

"Do I need the Shinigami?" Ichigo asked himself that, staring into the waters of Lake Michigan. The Shinigami were going to be his attack dogs in his initial plan, using them as bodies to funnel into the effort of peeling the thrones away from Yhwach, but now he has more leverage than he could have ever imagine. Yhwach needs him to unlock the throne. Some that he can't even unlock until his soul is returned to him...

Suddenly, the cold lake winds turned warm.

* * *

"Ms. Xi says I should call you daddy," Rin said, holding Ichigo's hand on their walk back to his apartment, "She said calling you by your name is disrespectful." Ichigo shrugged with his free arm.

"I don't think it's really important," he replied, "While I am your father, I want you to do what you are comfortable with."

"Are you sure you won't be mad?"

"I haven't been mad so far."

"Okay!" Rin said, excitedly, before calming down, "I'll think about it."

"Don't think too hard. What did you learn today?"

"Oh, I learned some letters and so numbers!" Rin shouted, "It's kinda hard, but Ms. Xi said that I am doing a really good job at learning."

"That's wonderful. Do you want to practice at home with me?" Ichigo offered.

"For real!? I do! I do!" Rin exclaimed, beaming.

* * *

"This is getting quite tiresome," Kurotsuchi Mayuri groaned, walking with his vice-captain and greatest creation Kurotsuchi Nemu, back to his chambers, "The Lords of Pestilence are poking their heads into places that they do not belong. Nemu, I need you to delete all the completed research off of the Squadron computers and move all unfinished research onto my personal computer immediately."

"Yes sir," she replied, obediently. Mayuri grumbled underneath his breath as he entered his chambers, leaving Nemu behind. The woman waited for any last-minute instructions, before turning on her heel and heading toward the computers.

* * *

Normally, Nemu would simply do what was asked of her. But this task felt different. It felt like a desperate attempt to spite his enemies from a man with numbered days. And Nemu didn't know what side she wanted to be on.

Nemu was not appointed as the vice-captain by Mayuri. Instead, she was a request to the Captain Commander. She has no explicit value to the Shinigami and Captain Kurotsuchi keeps her out of the loop by design.

Placing a USB storage device into the computer, she started to copy the files over, before deleting them. Captain Kurotsuchi will expect the hard drives to be destroyed, so she didn't need to delete the files in the first place but this was a good precautionary method.

The Lords of Pestilence were not to be trusted. Captain Kurotsuchi was made one so they could try to exert some pressure on him to make him do his bidding. Seeing that they were so frustrated with each other meant that the experiment failed spectacularly. Regardless, they were useless and if she tried to go to them, the Lords of Death would certainly have her killed.

So what to do...Nemu did not have many options to go to. Maybe Urahara Kisuke could provide her with sanctuary.

Regardless, she was not going to allow herself to be simply thrown away.

* * *

"Grind" by Alice in Chains


End file.
